


Chameleon

by yuubalu



Series: Tangled Thread [1]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-29
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-10 23:52:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2044926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuubalu/pseuds/yuubalu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yagyuu hasn't seen Niou since he blew off his confession towards the end of middle school. Now he's in university, and still regretting the decisions he made as a younger teen. But new friendships and familiar faces might be the key to helping him sort out what he wants in life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

"Oi, Yagyuu."

Yagyuu Hiroshi stopped mid-step, suppressing a wince and adjusting his glasses instead. He turned around, intent on telling his doubles partner not to elongate his vowels so much because it was _irritating_ , but the look on his friend's face kept him from saying anything.

"How can I help you, Niou-kun?"

Niou Masaharu's eyebrow twitched in the way that it did when he was trying to be serious, and his hands were bunched in his pockets the way they usually were when he was being honest with someone. Yagyuu's brain went immediately on high alert.

"How to say it..." The trickster brought out one hand to run through his rat-tail, and the gentleman recognised it as a way to calm his nerves. His fellow tennis player continued mumbling to himself. "I guess I should just come straight out and say it."

"What is it, Niou-kun?" Yagyuu was aware that he sounded impatient, but he couldn't help himself. If this was just going to be another of Niou's stupid jokes, then he wanted it over and done with as soon as possible. The platinum-haired teen frowned briefly, before shoving his hand back in his pocket with a drawn-out sigh.

"Alright, alright. In a hurry, are we?" Yagyuu adjusted his glasses again, and caught Niou rolling his eyes at the subtle hint. But then he saw the unmistakable tint of pink on the other boy's face as he glanced away in embarrassment. "I love you, Yagyuu."

For one brief moment, Yagyuu believed that his doubles partner was telling the truth. But then his brain pointed out that Niou wasn't the type to showcase all his tells at once unless he was trying to trick someone, and that there was especially no need to use them around Yagyuu because he would just know when he was telling the truth. It took only a few seconds for him to process his thoughts, and when he had he tried his hardest to react in a manner appropriate to a gentleman.

Clearly, something went wrong between his brain and his mouth, because before he knew it he was hunched over and laughing uncharacteristically.

"You really got me there, Niou-kun. For a moment I even believed you." The brunet completely missed the affronted look Niou sent him as he removed his glasses and wiped at his eyes. "You must be working on your comedy acting, because the level of detail in that was rather impressive."

When Yagyuu finally contained his amusement and caught his breath, the first thing he noticed was the silence. Niou was frowning at him, platinum brows furrowed in deep thought, and for some reason his gaze made Yagyuu's chest painfully tight. But then the other teen turned and walked away without another word, and the brunet found his own brows furrowing as he watched his doubles partner leave.

Later, Yagyuu was ashamed to admit that he hadn't given Niou's words any more thought after dismissing them as a joke. He continued with the rest of his day, returning home to find a number of missed calls from the trickster in question, but he was too busy with his homework to bother picking up whenever his phone rang the rest of the evening. What was the point anyway? Niou was most likely calling just to apologise for his bad taste in humour, and he could wait until they were in school the next day to do so.

But the trickster was more elusive than Yagyuu had first thought. It wasn't strange for him to skip out on class from time to time, but when the brunet hadn't seen his team mate in three days, he started to grow concerned.

"Marui-kun, have you seen Niou-kun recently?"

The redhead popped his bubblegum as he came to a halt in the corridor where Yagyuu had called out to him.

"Niou?" Marui scratched his head briefly. "He was in briefly yesterday, but he looked kinda depressed so I think he's having a day off."

"Depressed?" Yagyuu frowned, wondering what his friend could be upset about. Was it what they had talked about the other day?

Marui grinned, though the brunet was certain there was something a little malicious behind the tensai's joy. "Personally, I'd say Niou was _mooning_ over someone." Yagyuu froze, but the redhead didn't seem to notice his discomfort and continued talking. "Y'know, like Sanada did when Yukimura was still in the hospital. I wonder who would bother him so much. Anyway, I promised Jackal we'd go get ice cream so I better go before he decides that it's my treat. See ya!"

Yagyuu barely managed a nod of the head as his team mate skipped away down the corridor, his thoughts too busy working overtime. Niou. _Mooning_ over somebody? It didn't seem like the sort of thing his friend would do. Niou had never been the type to stay silent about his feelings, so surely he would have confessed to whichever girl it was that he liked? In that case, Yagyuu reasoned that the only cause he had to mope was if he'd been rejected, but...

His brain drew the connection at the same time as someone jostled him in the corridor, and the double blow had him clutching the wall to stay upright. What if it wasn't a girl that Niou liked? And what if he had confessed, and then he had been rejected. Yagyuu groaned as he realised just how ungentlemanly he'd been in his response the other day. If it was true, and Niou did actually like him, he would have to tell him so the next time the trickster rang.

But he didn't ring again, not even to let anyone know that he would be missing tennis practice. Yagyuu felt his guilt increasing when the first person Yukimura asked about Niou's whereabouts was himself. He uncharacteristically stumbled through the explanation that he didn't know, and that his doubles partner had stopped talking to him. The brunet couldn't tell which was worse; Yukimura's disappointed look, or the knowing glance he shared with Yanagi afterwards.

An entire week passed, Yagyuu stewing in his thoughts the whole time. Every day it seemed, a different class mate would ask him if he knew what had happened to Niou. Was it too much hassle for them to contact the trickster themselves? Why did they always expect Yagyuu to know? He and Niou hadn't been that inseparable, had they? But when his own mother asked when the other teen would next be coming over, Yagyuu started to realise that maybe he and Niou _had_ been as close as everyone seemed to think.

Had his words really affected his doubles partner that badly? Yagyuu knew by now that he'd been sorely mistaken when he'd interpreted Niou's behaviour to be just another joke. He felt even worse about it because his first reaction had been almost hopeful belief. Would it have truly been that terrible to have just accepted Niou's confession?

No, he decided. It really wouldn't have been terrible at all. The more he thought about it, the more Yagyuu wished he could go back and change his actions, say something else instead of laughing at the other teen.

Perhaps even allowed himself to fumble through his own confession.

The less time he spent with Niou, the more Yagyuu realised just how much he missed him. The trickster had become such an integral part of his everyday life that Yagyuu often found himself in the middle of buying something for or handing something to someone who wasn't there any more. His phone stayed eerily quiet, guilt eating away at him because he knew he should pick it up and ring his doubles partner and try and work everything out. But, for the first time in a long time, Yagyuu Hiroshi was scared. He was scared of saying what he was thinking, what he was feeling, but mostly he was scared because he didn't know what he was feeling. Niou was certainly important to him, he couldn't deny that, but he was still coming to terms with just how important the other teen was to him.

A whole fortnight passed since Niou's confession before Yagyuu decided that he'd had enough with being cowardly. He called Niou's cell on his way back from tennis practice, determined to confront the trickster about his absence from school. But there was no answer, nor did anyone pick up the next few times he rang. Despite trying several times a day, there continued to be no answer, and Yagyuu knew that he deserved Niou's scorn.

It didn't stop him from making a detour on the way home from school after the next tennis practice. If Niou wouldn't talk to him over the phone, there was no way he could escape him in his own house.

Yagyuu had only been to the Niou household once before, and that had been with Yanagi and Marui in tow. He'd briefly been concerned that he wouldn't remember the way, but he soon found himself outside of the small residence without any incident, and rang the doorbell before his nerves could get the better of him.

He was almost a little disappointed when it was Niou's mother who answered the door.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"Yes, uh." Yagyuu coughed briefly, straightening his glasses and trying not to fidget under her intense gaze. Her eyes were the same deep blue as Niou's, and they reminded him painfully of the disappointment his friend had clearly shown when they'd last seen each other. "Is Masaharu-kun in? I would like to speak to him." The brunet didn't know what had prompted him to use Niou's first name, but he reasoned it was probably a wise move since he knew the other teen had a younger brother and he couldn't afford any mix-ups right now.

The shift in Niou's mother's expression made him almost immediately wish he _hadn't_ used Niou's first name.

"Masaharu?" Yagyuu was surprised by the barely disguised disgust in her voice. "You must be Hiroshi-kun." He nodded, aware that she clearly knew who he was already. What had Niou been saying about him? "I'm afraid he's not in."

Her tone was so matter of fact, that Yagyuu was briefly taken aback. It was only years of dealing with Niou himself that allowed him to recognise her frankness as a lie. Why would she be lying to him? The only explanation Yagyuu could come up with was that Niou didn't want to see him.

"I see." He said cautiously, wondering if there was any way he could catch her out. "Can I leave a message for him at all?"

Her response was a stern frown. "No."

Just like that, Yagyuu found himself momentarily speechless. In the brief moment that he and Niou's mother stared each other down, there was a crash from inside the house, followed by a series of yells. Yagyuu could do nothing but blink helplessly as Niou's mother shut the door on him without another word, joining in the argument that was going on inside. Over all the shouting, the brunet recognised the sound of his best friend's voice. He briefly considered ringing the doorbell again and demanding to see him, but his heart felt like it was trying to escape out of his throat.

In the end, he decided that Niou must have had a reason for not wanting to see him, and that he would just try calling again later. He knew now that the trickster was fine, though he didn't want to admit to himself just how relieved that knowledge made him feel. As long as he continued calling, Niou would answer him when he was ready.

Like all spur of the moment plans Yagyuu had ever made, this one was no different. He called Niou daily, several times a day in fact. When summer was in full swing and school had let out, several times a day became several times a week if he was lucky enough and remembered. And then everything came crashing down the day his mother collapsed in the supermarket, and an examination at the hospital diagnosed her with leukaemia. In the stress of dealing with the sudden discovery, all of his problems with Niou were pushed aside, his thoughts and feelings forgotten in favour of trying to keep the family sane.

\---

Yagyuu glanced briefly in the mirror as he slipped his jacket on. He nodded, smiling to himself as he made the gesture even though there was nobody there to see him, before sighing.

"Yes, mother. I'll make sure not to forget." He balanced the phone between his ear and shoulder as he slipped his other arm into his jacket, before grabbing his bag and keys. "Yes, I know. I'll make sure to phone you after I'm back from lectures. Love you, too."

He hung up with another sigh, dropping his phone into his bag as he slung it over one shoulder, before leaving his apartment and locking the door. His mother had already kept him on the phone long enough that he was likely to be late for his first day at university, but Yagyuu didn't begrudge her for it. He supposed there wasn't much else to keep her entertained in the house, especially with his younger sister in school during the day.

As it turned out, Yagyuu managed to arrive on time to his first lecture, squeezing into a seat at the front of the lecture theatre and settling down for what he rightly suspected was the beginning of a tough three years. He didn't get a chance for a break until way past lunch time, all of his lectures for the day taking place in the morning and early afternoon. By the time his day finally ended, Yagyuu was more than a little bit hungry, and decided to stop by the local bakery on his way back to his apartment. The university halls were much closer than his apartment was, but both of his parents had agreed that they would feel a lot happier if they knew he was living somewhere safer than a block of crowded flats full of other students. Yagyuu didn't mind too much. His apartment was certainly more spacious than some of the halls he'd seen, and it was rather enjoyable living somewhere quieter than the campus accommodation.

He entered the bakery, glancing around briefly and noting that there were a handful of tables inside, most of them occupied by couples or businesswomen in suits chatting away on their phones. Yagyuu purchased his pain au chocolat with a small coffee, which he'd noticed advertised on a small sign as he approached the counter. As he handled his purchases, intent on heading back to campus and checking out the library in order to start early on some of his course reading, he noticed one of the nearby patrons waving at him.

"Yo!"

Yagyuu approached the table warily, one eyebrow raised in question. "Can I help you?"

The dark-haired girl grinned at him charmingly. "You're a student, right?" He nodded, wondering where this was going. "I saw you on your way to uni this morning, and just wanted to say hi."

"Ah. Nice to meet you."

Her grin widened, as if she could tell that he was a little taken aback by her forwardness. "Hey, relax. I just want to make friends, newbie. I'm Tomoyo, but please, just call me Tomo." Tomo gestured briefly at her companion, a rather plain, brown-haired young man, who rolled his eyes in sympathy at Yagyuu's confusion.

"The name's Shin. Nice to meet you."

"Hey hey, why don't you join us, newbie?"

Despite the fact that the library was calling to him, Yagyuu didn't see any quicker way out of this situation without being rude. He sighed quietly, pulling up a chair and setting his bag down beside it.

"So." Tomo began as he sat down. "What's your name, handsome?"

He coughed, catching another exasperated look from Shin. "Hiro."

"Just Hiro?" Tomo grinned, but she began talking again before he could say anything else. "I like a guy with a bit of mystery about him. Hiro's gotta be short for something, right? Let me guess... Hirokatsu?"

Yagyuu laughed quietly. "No, I'm afraid not."

Tomo frowned with mock disappointment. "Ah well. I'll just stick with Hirokatsu until I work it out." Shin coughed quietly into his drink, drawing Tomo's attention to him. "What? Something wrong with that?"

"No, no. Just if this guy was smart he'd be making a run for it already." He smiled conspiratorially at Yagyuu, and the brunet decided that he already liked this fellow.

"Oh? And what's that supposed to mean? You're not exactly one to talk, Shinjiro, seeing as we only met today, too!"

Yagyuu laughed again, grateful when Tomo's reaction was to smile sheepishly instead of start on another rant. "You two certainly get along well enough that I'd never have known you'd only just met."

Shin smiled slightly, the expression a little foreign on his relaxed features. "Tomoyo here seems like the type who could get anyone to like her." Tomo threw a bit of her croissant at him for using her full name, but Shin merely moved his head slightly to one side in order to dodge it. Yagyuu could see what he meant, but he was also certain that he could think of at least two people who would dislike the girl immediately for the same reasons that most people liked her.

Tomo pouted as she realised that neither of the boys were going to play along, and shoved the rest of her pastry into her mouth. Yagyuu took the opportunity to start on his own baked goods, and was pleasantly surprised at the quality. He made a mental note to stop by for breakfast when he had the chance.

"So, Hirochika." Yagyuu choked a little at the unexpected name. "What're you studying here?"

"Maths." He replied once he'd recovered. Tomo nodded as though she'd expected that answer. "You?"

"Can't you tell?" She grinned, and Yagyuu rolled his eyes in silent request for her to continue. "I'm studying Drama and Dance. Dance is just a side thing for now, but I've always done it through the rest of school so I didn't see the point in giving it up now." Yagyuu could definitely see the logic in her thoughts. He would have said the same for himself and golf a few years ago, if it wasn't for a certain someone...

"English, for me." Shin's quiet voice interrupted his thoughts, and Yagyuu tuned back in to Tomo jokingly suggesting that the other man become her manager if she ever became famous and decided to be a film star in America.

By the time his coffee was cold, his pastry long gone, Yagyuu briefly noted that he'd have to skip out on the library for the day in order to check in with his mother. Despite not getting any studying done, he supposed it wasn't a bad first day at university. At the very least, he had some friends now to keep him company through all the work load.

\---

Yagyuu's first week at university sped by quickly. He only saw Tomo and Shin a handful of times during the week, all three of them busy settling into their schedules. Tomo also had to deal with extra dance workshops outside of the usual lecture schedule, which she spent a long time ranting about the next time they met up for lunch. A small part of Yagyuu was surprised that he actually liked his two new acquaintances. It had been a while since he'd made any new friends, mostly sticking to the handful he'd gained in middle school, and who he still saw regularly throughout high school. He hadn't needed any new friends, but he supposed it was nice to have someone to talk to at university while all his other friends were off doing their own thing and no longer so easy to stay in contact with.

It was on a regular mid-week morning that Yagyuu bumped into, quite literally, a face from his past. He'd just bought himself what was quickly becoming his usual mid-week breakfast on the way to university for the day, when he knocked elbows with someone passing by, nearly spilling coffee down his shirt. He turned to apologise, grateful that he hadn't made a mess of himself, only to see another brunet in a similar situation, though with noticeably more coffee dripping from their open cup.

"I'm terribly sorry for not looking where I was going." He apologised, rummaging around in his bag for a tissue. The other male took it with a muttered thanks, wiping down his cup before throwing the tissue away in a nearby bin with a mutter of annoyance.

"S'my fault too, sorry." When he glanced up after bowing in apology, the other brunet's brows furrowed in thought. "Hey, don't I know you?"

Yagyuu blinked in confusion. The other man certainly looked a little familiar, though he couldn't put his finger on it. He settled on shrugging in response. The gesture evidently jogged the other man's memory, because he broke out into a wide grin.

"You're from Rikkai, aren't you? Yagyuu whatever his face."

Yagyuu blinked again, aware that he must look a little rude but unsure how to respond. "Hiroshi. Yagyuu Hiroshi."

The other brunet nodded enthusiastically, already beginning a fast-paced rant. "That's the one. Knew I recognised you from somewhere. Shame I never actually got to play you at tennis, I reckon we could have had a pretty good match. Kinda wanted to test myself against that Laser Beam of yours, but hey, what can you do?" He rubbed the back of his head as he laughed quietly to himself, before stopping with his mouth open comically as he realised he had yet to introduced himself. "Oh, sorry. Oshitari Kenya. We never met properly but, y'know. I have a knack for faces."

Oshitari... Now that he had a name to put the face, Yagyuu could definitely recognise the teen who'd been known as Naniwa's Speed Star. It seemed that Oshitari still had a penchant for doing things fast-paced.

Oshitari was apologising again, and Yagyuu allowed himself a brief smile as he repeated the same explanation and apology several times.

"Oshitari-kun." He interrupted him finally. "It's fine, really. It was my fault, too."

The other brunet grinned sheepishly, but then scrunched his face up as though irritated. "Please, don't call me 'Oshitari-kun'. It really doesn't suit me. Plus it just sounds like something most people would use to address my cousin, and the last thing I need is to be associated with Yuushi. Just call me Kenya, seriously."

Yagyuu laughed quietly as _Kenya_ looked genuinely disturbed at being likened to his cousin. The Osaka-native didn't seem to notice that he went on another tangent, until he noticed Yagyuu glancing briefly at his watch.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I've kept you for too long. Why do I always do this?" Yagyuu tried to shake his head, to say that actually it had been a nice break in his mundane morning routine and that he didn't actually mind because in the end nothing had actually occurred between his coffee and his shirt, but Kenya didn't give him a chance to speak. "It was nice speaking to you anyway, even if it was mostly just me doing all the talking. If I catch you around some time, I'll buy you a coffee and this time we can see if yours spills more than mine does. Just kidding. See you around!"

Yagyuu wasn't even remotely surprised when Kenya walked off at a pace that was only barely socially acceptable without being called running.

\---

A fortnight had passed since his first day at university, and Yagyuu was pretty certain that he'd settled nicely into a routine. He attended lectures according to his timetable, occasionally hanging out with Tomo and Shin for lunch whenever their timetables coincided. In the evenings he alternated between studying in the library and studying in his apartment, determined to start early with all his course reading so as not to fall behind. Since their first meeting, he'd only seen Kenya one other time, and they'd only had enough time to exchange mail addresses before they'd had to head off to lectures.

"Hey, Motohiro, keep up."

Yagyuu rolled his eyes to himself as Tomo called back to him, calling him another of her funny names that she was so fond of. Several times he'd questioned her why she didn't bother Shin with nicknames. He should have expected that her response would be that it wasn't fun if she already knew his full name.

The brunet in question had his head buried in a book as he walked alongside him. Yagyuu would have been impressed with his ability to navigate pedestrians without looking up if this wasn't something Shin did every day. It had ceased to be impressive after the first six times he'd seen him do it.

Tomo skipped ahead of them, chatting away to another of her friends, a petite brown-haired girl who's name Yagyuu had already forgotten. The two girls would giggle to each other occasionally, glancing back at the two males whenever they did so, and Yagyuu rolled his eyes again after he caught them looking for a third time. He wasn't sure why he and Shin were still following Tomo around, the dancer having already said that there was no need for them to accompany her as she took her friend home, but neither of them had said goodbye when they'd been given the opportunity. Yagyuu reasoned that he was just along for the ride, and to enjoy the view of a different part the city, no matter the fact that it was pretty much the same as his own neighbourhood.

"Okay guys, I'm just gonna head up with Mai-chan and collect something. You can wait down here if you want."

Yagyuu nodded silently, leaning up against the wall of the apartment building and settling in to wait. Shin muttered something about better light inside, and followed the two girls into the foyer, but Yagyuu felt no need to join him. He pulled out his phone, taking the time to reply to a message he'd received from Jackal asking how he'd been settling in. The half-Brazilian was settling into his own university course just fine, even if he complained often about rooming constantly with Marui. Yagyuu was yet again grateful that his parents had rented him a private apartment.

Just as he hit send, watching the small letter icon flash as his message was transmitted, the door to the apartment building opened. A quick glance identified the person as neither Tomo nor Shin, and Yagyuu glanced away again without paying them too much attention. But when they didn't move further away, instead coming closer to the wall, he glanced at them again.

"Sorry, do you mind?" The other man, reasonably tall and light-haired, waved a lighter as he smiled awkwardly. Yagyuu shook his head.

"No, go ahead."

"Thanks." He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a sigh. "I wouldn't usually light up if there was someone else nearby, but this is the only spot around here where the wind doesn't come through like it's a wind tunnel." He laughed, an easy smile on his face, and Yagyuu couldn't help but smile back. "I'm Saeki Kojirou. I haven't seen you around here before, have you just moved in?"

Yagyuu raised an eyebrow at the familiar name. "You could say that. I'm just here with a friend, though." Saeki nodded, turning away to breath out. "Saeki, huh?" Yagyuu asked when the other man turned back again. "Any chance you're the same Saeki who played for Rokkaku a few years ago?"

This time it was Saeki's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Tennis? Yeah, that's me."

Yagyuu smiled, nodding at him in delayed greeting. "Yagyuu Hiroshi. Nice to meet you."

"Yagyuu, huh?" Saeki grinned in amusement at meeting a fellow tennis player. "I didn't recognise you without the glasses. But then again, my team never got as far as playing yours, so I guess I never really met you properly in the first place."

Yagyuu returned his easy smile. "Shame. I heard great things about your motion vision back in the day."

Saeki laughed. "Don't, you'll make my ego even bigger than it already is. Besides, you make us both sound so old. It's only been three years since middle school. My eyes can't have deteriorated that badly since then."

Yagyuu laughed along with him, but the door to the apartment building opened again before he could say anything else.

"There you are, Hirofumi!"

Saeki glanced at him questioningly as Tomo skipped over to them, giving Saeki the once over. "Hirofumi?"

Yagyuu rolled his eyes. "Hiro. Just Hiro." He glanced at Tomo in mock exasperation, the raven-haired girl returning his expression by sticking out her tongue. "If only Tomo-hime here would take the hint."

Saeki laughed again, stubbing out his cigarette and throwing away the end. "I'll leave you and your charming queen here to your business then, Hiro." Yagyuu was grateful that Saeki seemed to have picked up the hint, even if Tomo still refused to play along. "If you fancy going for breakfast sometime soon and reminiscing on the good old days some more, there's a place near here that does a great Thursday special." Yagyuu nodded as Saeki passed, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll see you around, Hirofumi."

\---

Taking Saeki up on his offer of breakfast turned out to be a good idea, if only for entertainment reasons alone. Yagyuu was surprised how much he and Saeki had in common, and the two of them soon made plans to meet up for the breakfast the next Thursday. By complete coincidence, Kenya happened to be passing during their next meet up, and ended up joining them. Between the three of them, Yagyuu was surprised how much they had to talk about. Not just the general interests they shared, but gossip too. The brunet quickly found that he was the only one that was still in touch with all of his old tennis team mates (well, nearly all of them). Kenya apparently only kept in touch with his old captain, Shiraishi, who was a childhood friend of his and almost necessitated being kept in contact with. Saeki on the other hand still spoke to most of his team mates, but very infrequently. He did, however, talk often with the youngest Fuji brother, who apparently had a lot of gossip both from the old St. Rudolph team as well as the previous members of Seigaku.

The trio soon settled into a routine of having breakfast together every Thursday, and before Yagyuu knew it more than two months had passed since he'd first moved away from home. His little sister kept bugging him to visit home again, despite their mother's insistence that he not come home until Christmas. Yagyuu was just content to ring them every week, strangely enjoying the freedom that came with living on his own.

In fact, there was only one minor annoyance in Yagyuu's life.

"Hiroyama! Please." Tomo's voice was positively whiney, and Yagyuu glanced up from his textbook with a sigh.

"Sit down, already. I can't help you if I don't know what you need, and you won't get to tell me if the librarian hears you and kicks us both out."

Tomo pouted, glancing over at Shin who was hiding a smile behind a book of his own, before dropping into a chair beside the other brunet.

"Okay, so, you know I've been having extra dance practices recently?" Yagyuu nodded, remembering how often she'd complained about them when they'd been announced. "Well, our instructor has just announced the date for our performance, and we need more people to show up and fill seats, y'know?" She trailed off, hoping for Yagyuu to pick up her hint.

"I'm sure Shin and I would love to attend, but I doubt we'd do very much towards filling seats."

Tomo shook her head. "No, no, I'd love you guys to be there. Just, if you know anyone else who might be free, just tell them to come along, okay? It's free and everything, we just need to get used to actually performing in front of people."

Yagyuu smiled slightly, and Tomo took that as his agreement and hugged him briefly before jumping up and skipping out of the library, calling out her gratitude as she went. Both remaining brunets hid the smiles behind piles of books as the librarian chased her out, shouting about manners and decency.

Back in his apartment later that evening, Yagyuu messaged both Saeki and Kenya about the dance performance at the weekend, urging them to bring their friends for a free evening out, and adding on that he would pay for their breakfasts the next week. He knew the free food would get Kenya's attention, and it would secure Saeki's own agreement. Sure enough, come the evening of Tomo's performance, Yagyuu saw both former tennis players in the crowd waiting to enter the small venue. He and Shin were waiting with Tomo at the backstage entrance, the bubbly girl unusually quiet.

"You'll be just fine, Hime."

Tomo glanced up at Shin, brows furrowed, before she sighed and leant heavily against him.

"Thanks, Shin. I'm just stressed, I guess." There was a chime from nearby, which Yagyuu reasoned must be the signal that the show would be beginning soon, because Tomo straightened up, a smile replacing her frown. "Well, wish me luck, boys. The queen is about to go greet her adoring public."

Yagyuu laughed quietly as he gave a her a quick hug for good luck, before following Shin to their seats.

\---

He wasn't entirely sure what he'd been expecting when Tomo had said 'dance show', but he was very glad that he'd gone along. It was quite impressive to see the various dance styles that Tomo's club apparently took part in. Tomo herself did a lot of what Yagyuu recognised to be traditional ballroom dancing, though none of it was the slow waltzes that most people would associate with ballroom. She had been twirled around the stage by her partner over and over, their bodies creating arcs and shapes that were only accentuated by whichever genius had been in charge of the costume department and had decided to dress all the dancers in flowing fabrics.

By the time the show was over, most of the audience leaving pleasantly surprised (and the rest thoroughly satisfied), Yagyuu felt that he should probably pay more attention to Tomo the next time she went on a rant about dance. He and Shin were waiting for her outside as the remainders of the audience filed out, the occasional dancer among them being complimented by their friends. A joyful scream was the only announcement Yagyuu had that Tomo was no longer backstage, before a pair of arms wound themselves around his neck.

"Gah, I'm so glad it went okay!"

Tomo's grin was infectious, and Yagyuu couldn't help but smile back as he practically handed her off to Shin, who received the same hug treatment. He couldn't help but notice that the raven-haired girl stuck close to him afterwards, and he hid a smile behind a brief cough.

"You were great up there, Tomo."

She blushed, uncharacteristically humble as she waved away his compliment.

"Nah, I blame everything on Haru for making me look so good. I'd be pretty useless if he wasn't so good at leading me through the steps." Shin looked like he wanted to add something else to the conversation, but Tomo was jumping up and waving at someone before he could. "Haru! Over here!"

Yagyuu glanced in the direction she was waving, briefly recognising the man who had been dancing with her as he approached them. He swept Tomo into a hug, swinging her around briefly as they shared their joy, before he set her down again and this time Yagyuu got a good look at his face. He'd known the other male was physically fit, he'd seen so on stage, his lithe limbs twisting around Tomo's own, but he'd been too far away to see that his face was equally attractive. His features were somewhat delicate for a man, though Yagyuu wasn't certain if that fact was accentuated more by the dark hair that framed his face. On one side, his hair was braided in three plaits close to his head, the rest falling loosely to his shoulders.

"You were awesome tonight, Tomo-hime." Yagyuu coughed as the other man spoke, only just realising that he'd been staring. "I mean, you're always awesome, but today we were just on fire!"

Tomo grinned, hugging him again. "What about you? You were even more on fire than usual, Haru."

Haru laughed, rubbing the back of his head and shifting the bag he had slung over one shoulder. "I do my best." Tomo hit him playfully, and he grinned. Yagyuu wasn't entirely certain he liked his stomach's reaction to the other man's smile. "Anyway, I've gotta be going, Hime. Rin'll kill me if I don't get back on time."

Tomo made a face that wasn't quite disgust, causing Haru to laugh again. The other dancer gave her a quick peck on the cheek, turning to shoot the other two males a smile as he said goodbye. Yagyuu couldn't help but wonder if the fact that Haru smiled at him for longer than he did Shin was because he'd caught him staring before, but he quickly dismissed the thought in favour of joining in with Tomo's self-worship.

\---

 


	2. Chapter Two

Yagyuu thought nothing of Tomo's intriguing dance partner until his next early morning lecture, where he was almost forcibly brought to the front of his mind. It was becoming a bad habit of his to bump into people whilst holding coffee, only this time luck wasn't on his side.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry."

Yagyuu grunted, aware that he wasn't being particularly polite but rather more concerned about wiping the coffee off his bag than being gentlemanly. The worst of the liquid gone, he glanced up, only to come face to face with Haru again.

"Haru."

The dancer grinned, apparently glad that he'd been recognised.

"You're Tomo's friend, right? We never got introduced properly. You've probably noticed she's like that a lot."

Yagyuu returned the smile, a lot more at ease now that he knew none of his stuff had been damaged by the coffee. "I'm Hiro, nice to meet you."

"Haru. But you already know that, so I guess there was no point in me saying so again." Haru's smile was definitely infectious. "So, you make a habit of hanging around in doorways waiting for people to bump into you, or do you have this lecture, too?"

Yagyuu laughed briefly, annoyed that his chest was threatening to tighten every time Haru's grin widened. "I hang out here once a week, actually. It's my special doorway spot." Haru's laugh was apparently just as infectious as his smile, because Yagyuu found himself chuckling along with him at his own joke. "But no, I have Advanced Algebra here in about five minutes."

"Seriously? No shit. Me too."

"Really?" Yagyuu couldn't help the furrowing of his brows. He was pretty certain he'd have noticed someone like Haru before, and he told the other man so. The dancer merely grinned easily, shifting on the spot a little and stretching his lithe limbs.

"Hey, just because you haven't seen me before the other day doesn't mean I haven't been here. It's your fault for sitting all the way at the front where you don't see us hot-shots at the back."

The brunet found himself blushing unexpectedly at the fact that Haru's comment meant he'd clearly noticed him before. Thankfully, the other male (and Yagyuu noted that he was slightly shorter than him, now that he was up close) didn't notice, instead changing the topic until Yagyuu completely forgot that he'd been embarrassed in the first place. Although they didn't chat for long before the lecture began, and they split up to go to their respective seats, Yagyuu found himself more relaxed than he'd expected to be. Something about Haru just made him... comfortable.

So when Haru suggested they get together to work on their coursework, since "two minds are better than one, huh?", Yagyuu couldn't help but agree.

"Awesome." Haru's was grinning at him again, and Yagyuu smiled back almost instinctively. "We should go for breakfast sometime later in the week and work things out. It's a date."

The shorter male entered the lecture theatre, shooting him a wink over his shoulder and leaving Yagyuu momentarily dazed. Even as he followed behind and settled in for the start of class, the brunet couldn't help but wonder if he meant it as an actual date.

\---

It wasn't until after his very last lecture of the week (Thursday afternoon, right before lunch with Tomo and Shin) that Yagyuu realised he and Haru had never exchanged numbers. How were they supposed to arrange to have breakfast together if there was no way for them to get in contact with each other? His confusion must have evidently shown on his face, because it was the first thing Tomo commented on when he joined her and Shin in the usual bakery.

"S'up, Hirohiko? You look like someone's just told you in great detail all about their constipation."

Yagyuu blinked, staring back and forth between his two friends as though one of them would explain the relevance of such a comparison. When nothing was forthcoming except more silence, he shook his head and completely ignored Tomo's comment. "You wouldn't happen to have Haru's number, would you?"

Tomo's expression cycled straight to mischievous joy. "Ohohoho! What do you need that for?" She still brought out her phone and scrawled down a number on her napkin despite her teasing words. "Planning on asking him out, are you?" Yagyuu opened his mouth to say otherwise, but her wiggling eyebrows cut him off. "He has a boyfriend, y'know?" She continued as though she didn't realise that this was news to him. Haru had a boyfriend? Then why had he asked him on a date? Perhaps he was looking into things too much. "I wouldn't let that stop you, though. Rin's a bit of an ass. Your ass on the other hand, is definitely something Haru should be getting his hands on."

"Tomo, stop." Shin's blunt voice cut the raven-haired girl off, and she turned to him with a blush, only just realising the tangent she'd gone off on.

"Okay, okay." She handed her napkin to Yagyuu, who took it with a muttered thanks. "Seriously though, Tamahiro. You and he would be great together."

\---

Yagyuu did his best to ignore Tomo's words even as he rang Haru to arrange breakfast the next day. The brunet could tell that the other male was more than amused when he answered the phone and found out who was calling him, even more so when Yagyuu mentioned that it was his fault for not giving him his number outright.

"Hey, gotta make a boy desperate enough first, am I right?"

Haru slid into the chair opposite him, and Yagyuu did his best not to blush into his coffee. He still wasn't sure how to act around the dancer. He couldn't deny that the entire situation would be less confusing if he didn't know that Haru already had a boyfriend, but the dark-haired male wasn't exactly making things any easier.

His opening tease over and done with, Yagyuu felt himself relaxing a bit more as Haru started a different topic. By the time they left the cafe, having covered every topic  _except_  coursework, Yagyuu had nearly forgotten his earlier awkwardness.

"Shit, look at the time." Haru glanced at the clock on the wall inside, turning to grin brightly at Yagyuu as he scratched the side of his head. "I've gotta get going, got a dance class soon."

"Oh, sure. Yes. Good luck." The brunet cursed himself for fumbling his words. Haru's grin brightened a notch.

"Hey, maybe next time you ask me out for breakfast, we could actually talk about that coursework we were planning on doing."

Yagyuu fought down a blush as Haru winked at him again. Really, was the other male actively trying to fluster him? "Perhaps I can take you out for dinner instead?" He cursed himself for his lack of tact, especially when Haru's face went blank, dark blue eyes narrowing thoughtfully. And then he smiled sadly, and Yagyuu felt even more awkward than he had before.

"Hiroyuki..." It took him a moment to realise that Haru was referring to him. "I'm already dating someone, but I'm flattered."

"I know." He cut him off before he could say anything else. "I just thought we could..." He wasn't entirely sure what he'd been thinking.

Haru was staring at him intently, and Yagyuu did his best not to fidget under his gaze. But then the shorter male stepped into his personal space, a smile tugging at his lips as he nudged the brunet's side. "Take me out for breakfast again, and you have yourself a deal. If I have to be spending my free time on coursework, I can at least do it with someone I like."

Yagyuu wasn't sure if there was a hidden message in Haru's statement, but he nodded anyway. "Breakfast sounds fun."

Haru smiled wider, bouncing on his feet a little, and Yagyuu couldn't help but smile with him. "I'll call you this time, hot-shot. Just keep your phone on you."

\---

Haru did indeed call. Over the next few weeks, Yagyuu continued having breakfast with the dancer. It was just once a week, sometimes twice if they were lucky, and they never did anything else except talk about coursework. Eventually, after too many slightly over-priced breakfasts, Haru invited him to join him for a run at the weekend before classes, and Yagyuu decided that it couldn't hurt to see how out of shape he'd gotten.

At the very least, Haru seemed to find it funny that he needed to take a break after only half an hour of jogging.

"You should see your face." Yagyuu glanced up at the other male, who was standing next to him, stretching his arms with a cocky smile on his face. "It's all red and blotchy. Very charming."

The brunet laughed breathily, trying to calm his heartbeat and cursing himself for being so lax with exercise over the last few years. He still ate healthily, so he'd never gained weight, but he'd come a long way since the fitness he'd had in his early teens.

"You don't look like you should be this out of shape." Haru nudged him in the ribs lightly, grin still firmly in place. Yagyuu used the prodding as an excuse to double over, hiding his sudden blush as he feigned pain.

"Thanks, I think."

"Oh yeah, it was definitely a compliment. You look pretty fit. Other than the blotchy face." Haru laughed, and this time Yagyuu joined in, doing his best not to focus on the fact that the dancer had called him 'fit'.

"I blame that on playing sports as a teen."

Haru raised a dark eyebrow, rocking on his heels a little as though to point out that he at least still had loads of energy. Yagyuu straightened up, stretching his back a little, before starting to jog again, knowing that Haru would follow without needing to be told.

"Oh? I guess it makes sense. You've got an athletic build to you, I suppose. Let me guess, something that didn't involve much running, like swimming?"

Yagyuu chuckled lightly, catching Haru's smile out of the corner of his eye. "You'd be surprised how much running I was made to do. But no, not swimming." He coughed a little as his lungs protested the continued exercise. "Tennis, actually. But not since middle school."

He completely missed the change in Haru's expression. "No shit. Were your team any good?"

"They were pretty good, I guess." Yagyuu didn't say anything else. It didn't feel right to come straight out and say that his middle school team had won the National Championships twice in a row, and were runners-up during his last year of middle school. He was never really the type to brag.

Haru nodded, as though he was thinking intensely, but there was a smile on his face when he spoke again. "Shame I never really paid much attention to any team except my own school's. We could have been friends a lot sooner." His grin widened, and Yagyuu was briefly breathless for a completely different reason than exertion. "Then I could have laughed at your blotchy face for a lot longer."

The dancer dodged out of the way of Yagyuu's feeble attempt at swiping him, but he still succeeded in giving the brunet the motivation to continue, even if it was just to get him to stop making fun of him.

\---

As summer continued, breakfasts with Haru petered out until Yagyuu only saw him on the weekends for a run around the city. He was pleased to say that his stamina was rapidly increasing, his body apparently eager to get back to the condition it had been in in his younger teens. When he told Kenya and Saeki, who he still saw weekly, about his new exercise regime, they lost the Osaka-native to laughter for nearly a whole half hour, until he finally calmed down enough to say that he couldn't ever imagine being out of breath from running. Saeki helpfully added his own thoughts on the matter, saying that he could think of far better activities to be out of breath from.

Yagyuu refused to pay for their breakfasts after that time, even though it was his turn to pay.

Mid-August arrived, and with it one of the Rikkai reunions Yukimura insisted that everyone attend. Yagyuu didn't even need the added bonus of knowing the things his former captain would do to him if he didn't show up without good reason; catching up with the rest of his former team mates was always a pleasure.

This time, they were meeting up in a small yakiniku restaurant which they'd often visited after tournaments back in middle school. Akaya had chosen the venue, despite Jackal's complaints. Yagyuu wasn't surprised to see the dark-skinned male already there when he arrived; as much as he complained about yakiniku, the brunet knew that it was Jackal's favourite type of Japanese cuisine. He just really hated using chopsticks.

"Yo, Yagyuu!"

Yagyuu waved in greeting, slipping into a seat next to the half-Brazilian at the end of the table. Marui was the only other person not already seated, but he suspected that the redhead was merely off somewhere getting drinks. Yukimura and Sanada were down the other end of the table, sitting almost a little too close for comfort, but Yagyuu couldn't blame them. After all, the only times they got to see each other were during these team reunions, now that Yukimura had moved half the country away. Yanagi was deep in conversation with Akaya, asking how his last year as captain of the high school team was going.

"Oh, it's going great, senpai!" Akaya's grin was almost too wide for his face. "You should have seen the other third years' faces when buchou made me captain. Not you, Yukimura-buchou." He shot down the table, and Yukimura smiled at him briefly. "Takenaka-buchou. But yeah, they were totally jealous of me being buchou again. I mean, I don't blame them, but it makes sense that the strongest player should be captain, right? After all, Yukimura-buchou was captain when we were all at Rikkai. I'd bet he'd still be captain if we got the team together again now, even!"

Yanagi smiled indulgently, cutting the younger male's rant off before he could get too carried away. "I'm sure you make a wonderful captain, Akaya. After all, this is your second time."

Akaya grinned, cackling a little. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm an awesome captain!" A hand clapped down on his head briefly, stopping the high school student from bouncing in his seat too much. Akaya shrugged it off, pouting at Sanada and making a grab for the cap he'd set to one side on the table, only to be foiled by his former captain.

Yagyuu stifled a laugh at their antics, turning to greet Marui, who appeared with a tray of drinks in hand.

"Hey, if it isn't Hiro-kun."

"Hey, if it isn't Bun-chan."

Marui grinned, popping a quick bubble of gum before sliding into the chair opposite him, passing the drinks wordlessly down the table. "Did you cut your hair again? It looks terrible."

Jackal laughed from beside him. "That's not really fair, Marui. You were the one who told him to cut it in the first place."

"Yeah, but I didn't think he'd actually do it."

Yanagi smiled behind his cup of green tea. "If I recall correctly, you recommended that Hiroshi cut his hair because it no longer suited him without his glasses to offset his features."

Yagyuu rolled his eyes as they continued discussing his appearance. At the other end of the table, he caught Yukimura's exasperated smile, and returned it with one of his own. Making fun of each other had become just part of their routine at these reunions. As far as Yagyuu was concerned, his turn had been long in coming. Mostly because Marui still wasn't over the fact that Jackal no longer shaved his head.

The reunion continued much as they usually did, with Jackal getting confused over chopsticks, Marui and Akaya laughing so hard that they choked on their food or drink, Yanagi surprising everyone by telling a joke with such a poker face that it was actually difficult to tell if he was being serious or not, and Sanada steadily fuming in the corner as he tried to reign in the urge to both slap his former team mates and join them in laughing. Yagyuu was already on his second round of yakiniku when his phone rang, and he quickly excused himself to a quieter corner of the restaurant, all the while keeping a watchful eye on Marui's chopsticks.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hiromi. Where were you today?"

He recognised Haru's voice already, if only because of the butterflies that erupted awkwardly in his chest. "Haru. I'm terribly sorry for not calling. I just had a previous engagement today." Yagyuu could practically hear Haru's pout on the other end of the line. He hadn't realised that their weekly runs were so important to the other male.

"Nah, it's fine. I just wanted to check you were okay." It sounded like Haru wanted to say something else, but Yagyuu wasn't entirely certain that wasn't just his own wishful thinking. "I'll catch you around next weekend though, right?"

"Of course. I'll see you then. I'm sorry again, I really am."

Haru said a mumbled goodbye before hanging up. Yagyuu slipped his phone back in his pocket with a sigh, before returning to his spot at the table, only to find the former regulars all watching him.

"Oooh! Yagyuu-senpai is whipped!"

The brunet wasn't sure what made him snap, Akaya's mocking tone or the elongated way that he said his name. Whatever it was reminded him painfully of his former doubles partner.

"Don't you dare say my name like that."

Even Yagyuu was a little taken aback by the tone of his voice. He didn't realise that he was quite that bothered by people saying his name. He tried telling himself it was just because it had been such a long time, but still. The brunet didn't put up a fight when Yukimura suggested he go outside to calm down. He knew an order when he was given one, and he took it without saying another word. As he leant on the wall outside the restaurant, Yagyuu suddenly felt himself wishing for his old glasses, if only for their familiar comfort.

A few minutes later, the screen door opened and he noticed Akaya joining him out the corner of his eye. The high school student shuffled his feet awkwardly, and Yagyuu sighed.

"I'm sorry."

The two team mates blinked at each for a brief moment after speaking in unison, before Akaya smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Hiroshi-senpai."

Yagyuu raised an eyebrow. Akaya hadn't ever called him that before. It was a mark of how grown-up the teen was becoming that he'd chosen a completely different route, one he could guarantee was safer. Or perhaps Yukimura had just told him to stop using his last name, like everyone else had taken to doing. "No, I'm sorry. My behaviour wasn't at all gentlemanly."

Akaya shuffled his feet again, as though he was trying to decide if it was wise to say whatever he was thinking. Yagyuu made a mental note to thank Yanagi for giving the teen lessons in tact. Eventually Akaya deemed his thoughts worth voicing, because he brought a hand up to ruffle the back of his head as he squinted at the brunet in an attempt to look casual, even though he was still shifting on the spot.

"Y'know, you haven't exactly been gentlemanly in years, senpai. Not since Niou-senpai left." Yagyuu was too shocked by his bluntness to comment. "Maybe you should stop trying to be something you're not."

Akaya smiled cheekily at him, before dashing back inside claiming that he was going to hit Marui if he'd touched the last pieces of meat. Yagyuu continued to lean against the cold stone wall, the teen's words sinking in. How long had it been since he'd last,  _truly_ , been a gentleman? A traitorous part of his mind told him he'd been doomed the moment he'd met a certain trickster. But Akaya was definitely right. He hadn't been himself in years, too busy trying to hold onto a facade that had been broken beyond repair. Maybe it was time he started being more true to himself, gentleman be damned.

\---

 


	3. Chapter Three

Back at university, Yagyuu made the decision to buy Haru lunch as an apology for skipping out on their run. Although he didn't usually meet up with the dancer during the week, he knew that he'd soon be finishing one of his dance practices, and decided to head over with a store-bought bento as a peace offering. He spotted Tomo briefly as she left the practice building, and waved the bento in response to her silent question.

"He's just in the back. Have fun!"

Yagyuu nodded in thanks, letting the last of the dancers leave the studio before heading inside. It was more spacious than he thought it would be, but there was no sign of Haru. Instead of waiting around, the brunet decided to head to the changing room he could see off to one side, figuring that the other male was still getting changed. Indeed, the first thing he caught sight of when he rounded the door was Haru's bare chest.

The next thing he noticed was the hand tracing his torso, pushing him up against the wall as another man breathed down his neck, nipping against his collar bone. Yagyuu stood frozen in the doorway, watching as Haru's hands bunched in the other man's shirt, knuckles turning white.

And then Haru's eyes opened, and Yagyuu found himself drawn to them like a moth to a flame.

"Hiro..."

The sound of Haru whispering his name made his heart clench painfully. He had no right to be calling his name like that, not in that sort of situation. Yagyuu turned, ignoring the fact that Haru called out to him, louder this time, the sounds of a scuffle breaking out behind him. What was it his business what Haru did and didn't do with his boyfriend?

Later that evening, the brunet had a distinct sense of deja vu as his phone rang, the screen flashing up with Haru's name. He scoffed, tipping the remains of the bento which he'd eaten for dinner in the end into the kitchen bin, ignoring his phone in favour of more studying. If Haru was that desperate to talk to him, then he'd keep trying.

Yagyuu tried to tell himself he wasn't disappointed when he had no other calls that evening.

He went to lectures the next day having almost forgotten the events of the previous afternoon. It really wasn't his business, after all, if Haru spent time with his boyfriend. So he was more than a little surprised when the dancer broke their unspoken rule of not sitting together in lectures and joined him in the front row.

"Don't you dare."

Haru's brows were furrowed as he focused on the lecturer, and Yagyuu decided it wasn't worth doing as he'd planned and moving to another seat. The other male was very clearly  _pissed_ , and he knew it was pointless to try and escape whatever he was going to throw at him later.

The moment the lecture was over, he had barely enough time to pack away his things before Haru's hand was on his wrist and dragging him outside. A traitorous part of him rejoiced a little when the short male led him around the corner of the building and shoved him up against the wall, away from prying eyes. If it wasn't for the fact that he immediately pictured  _Haru_  up against the wall, with someone else keeping him there, Yagyuu was pretty certain a bigger part of him would be rejoicing.

"What the fuck is your problem?" The brunet blinked at the anger in Haru's voice. "Do you make a habit of ignoring friends in trouble?"

What? Yagyuu blinked. Trouble? He decided to voice his confusion. "But your boyfriend-"

Haru groaned in frustration, tugging at his hair briefly. "Are you kidding me? You thought that jerk was my boyfriend?" Yagyuu's response must have been written clearly on his face, because Haru sighed, leaning his head heavily against the wall. Yagyuu stood frozen beside him, rubbing at his wrist where he could still feel the other male's strong grip. "If he'd been my boyfriend, you would have known. Trust me. I don't make a habit of making out with people somewhere I can be spotted, so I was definitely not there of my own free will."

Yagyuu opened his mouth to apologise. He had a habit of jumping to conclusions, wrong ones, when it came to Haru, and he'd made a very big mistake with this one. Instead, what came out of his mouth was the furthest thing from an apology.

"Will you go out for lunch with me?"

Haru frowned, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "I was kind of expecting an apology." Yagyuu blushed under his stare, rubbing the bridge of his nose in an old nervous gesture. "I'm not saying yes until I get one."

The brunet tried again.

"I'm sorry." He should have stopped there, but his mouth kept talking. "I was just jealous." Haru looked as surprised as Yagyuu felt at his own words. "It doesn't excuse my actions, but I can't change that."

The shorter male turned to face him properly, eyes flicking across his face as though trying to judge how serious Yagyuu was being. Eventually, a small smile found its way onto his lips, and he pushed away from the wall with a sigh, resting his hand briefly on Yagyuu's arm.

"Sure. I'll have lunch with you tomorrow, Takahiro. You can apologise some more then."

\---

After their almost fight, there was a strange new level to his friendship with Haru. Now that it was out in the open, Yagyuu could no longer deny that he was jealous of Haru's boyfriend, regardless of if the other man had been him or not. Haru never brought it up again, but Yagyuu knew he hadn't forgotten it.

In fact, Haru's behaviour towards him never changed, but Yagyuu was more confused than before as to what the dancer's feelings were. He knew that Haru was generally a very friendly person (he hugged Tomo all the time, even held her hand occasionally when they walked around campus), but he could never tell if the other male was openly flirting with him or if he was more comfortable with him than others, like Shin. Or, perhaps the most irritating, was it just Yagyuu's own wishful thinking that was causing him to look too deeply into Haru's actions?

Tomo seemed to find his confusion hilarious, and often joked about whether the two of them were dating yet. It wasn't until one particular sunny afternoon that Yagyuu finally snapped, surprising the raven-haired girl enough that she dropped her peach-flavoured ice down her top.

"Shit. I'm sorry." It was the first time she'd heard him swear, and it was enough of a distraction that his momentary anger was pushed aside. But after helping her clean up, Yagyuu decided that he really couldn't sit back and let her make fun of him anymore, even if he knew she was only doing it out of a sense of amusement. "Haru has a boyfriend, you know."

"I do know." Tomo was grinning at him, and he rolled his eyes at her over-the-top acting.

"I really shouldn't be thinking about him like that."

Her grin lessened as she realised he was being serious about this. "Like what?"

Yagyuu sighed, itching the side of his face as he tried to formulate words. He hadn't actually voiced how he felt about Haru, not even to himself, and ended up telling her so. Tomo smiled softly, looping her arm through his as they continued to walk.

"I'm sorry, Hatsuhiro. I'll stop making fun of you so much now." The brunet muttered a sarcastic thanks, but Tomo ignored him in favour of leaning her head on his shoulder. "I was just curious to see if you actually felt anything for him. I wasn't kidding when I said you'd make a better boyfriend for him. Haru's boyfriend's a dick anyway, so I guess that's not exactly a difficult thing to beat."

She said it casually, but Yagyuu could tell that she meant it. He began to wonder just how much of a dick Haru's boyfriend actually was. And right alongside that path of thinking, he also decided that he needed to work out his own feelings for the dancer before it was too late to do anything.

\---

Autumn came and went without incident, until Christmas was right around the corner. Yagyuu was amused when his class voted to do a Secret Santa, a tradition he'd heard was popular in America but had never taken part in before. The name he picked from the bowl that went around the lecture theatre was a girl he barely knew. All he knew was that she collected hair ornaments, and so he purchased a simple but elegant flower barrette when he was out shopping with Saeki a few days before the gifts were due.

When he questioned Haru about who's name he'd picked from the bowl, the dancer refused to say, and Yagyuu thought nothing of it. After all, the Santa was supposed to be secret. Still, he couldn't help but wonder who had picked Haru's name from the bowl, and what they would be getting him for Christmas. That line of thinking naturally led to him wondering if he was supposed to get his friend a present or not. Were they at that stage yet? He wasn't buying Kenya or Saeki anything for Christmas, despite knowing them for much longer than he'd known the dancer, but that was because they paid for each other's breakfasts often enough that a Christmas present didn't seem necessary.

By the time it came for them to receive their Secret Santas, Yagyuu had somewhat forgotten his dilemma regarding the present situation. So he was more than a little surprised when instead of just one gift waiting for him in his pigeon hole, there were two.

The first was very clearly from his Secret Santa, the label on top the exact same one that had been given out by their lecturer. Inside, Yagyuu was amused to see a couple of free film tickets. He had a pretty good idea who'd been his Secret Santa, seeing as he'd only recently complained to a few of his classmates who sat nearby that he hadn't been to the cinema since his first year of high school.

The second gift, however, was a complete mystery. He lifted it out of the pigeon hole, hefting it lightly in one hand. It was weighty, but not heavy, and had very little give to it. Just as he was about to open it, he sensed someone slide up beside him, and glanced over to see Haru rocking on the soles of his feet, a grin on his face as he looked up at him.

"What've you got there, Hiroki?"

The timing was too coincidental that Yagyuu couldn't help but laugh. "I'd be willing to wager that this is a present." He waved the wrapped package with one hand, and Haru laughed briefly.

"Well, don't let me stop you from opening it. Otherwise I might just open it myself. The suspense is killing me."

Yagyuu rolled his eyes, slipping a finger beneath the tape and pulling apart the paper. Inside was a book, a collection of short detective stories. The brunet tried to pretend that his heart didn't race when he looked up and saw Haru grinning at him. He had no doubt that the dancer was the one who'd given it to him.

"How did you know?"

Haru's smile widened. "Busted, huh?" Yagyuu smiled, trying to convey that he liked his present. "Did I guess right?"

The brunet nodded. "I'm impressed. You've got some pretty keen deduction skills there." He coughed a little as his cheeks threatened to blush a little in embarrassment. "I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."

Haru waved his hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it. I've had it laying around for a while now. I guess it was meant for another friend, but I never got around to giving it to him. We had a falling out or something, I don't remember now." The awkwardness in his expression was quickly replaced by a cheeky grin. "You remind me a lot of said friend, though. A little more stupid, perhaps. But a lot easier to get along with, and a lot easier on the eyes."

Yagyuu laughed, covering up the butterflies in his stomach, pleased to see Haru join him, the unnoticed tension in his chest dissipating.

\---

In the end, Yagyuu decided that the easiest thing he could get Haru for Christmas was to invite him around for dinner. He'd spent the entire weekend worrying over what to get him for a gift, but decided that the hassle wasn't worth it. He didn't really know the dancer well enough to trust himself to guess right with a gift anyway, unless he went for something incredibly generic like chocolates. And even then, he wasn't certain if the other male even  _liked_  chocolate.

When he actually got around to asking Haru, tagging on his reasons in an extra attempt to get him to say yes, he was glad that his first reaction was to laugh.

"Sure, Hiroaki." Yagyuu could still hear the smile in his voice even through the phone. "I've been waiting long enough to see your place now, anyway."

Yagyuu tried his best to quell the part of him that entertained the idea of Haru visiting his apartment for the first time under an entirely different situation, one where there wasn't a boyfriend already in the picture. He was still doing his best not to think about such a scenario by the time Haru actually turned up, bundled in a hideous Christmas jumper, complete with reindeer horns.

"Yo."

Yagyuu laughed, both at the other male's appearance and to cover the awkward tightness in his chest. "Is it really that cold outside, or are you planning on distracting me from my own terrible cooking with your terrible taste in sweaters?"

"Hey, should you really be telling me about your cooking skills  _before_  I eat your food?"

Dinner went smoothly, despite Haru's continued joking about his cooking. Yagyuu really wasn't that terrible a cook, even if he could only really make the basics, but the dancer insisted that he could still cook better than he himself could. After they'd eaten, Haru insisted on being given the tour of his apartment, and Yagyuu was briefly glad that he'd cleaned up thoroughly before the other male had arrived.

"Must be nice, living on your own." A quick glance over showed that the dark-haired male was staring wistfully around the tidy living room. Yagyuu shrugged his shoulders in response, and Haru shot him a brief smile. "I mean, must be good to have somewhere to get away from everything. I'm stuck with Rin all the time. Pretty much the only place I get alone time is the library, and I'll be damned if I spend more free time there than I absolutely have to." He downed the rest of his beer in one go, before disappearing off the kitchen in order to get a refill. Yagyuu stayed in the living room, tucked into the lone arm chair, wondering if this was going to turn into an evening of Haru talking about his boyfriend.

But it didn't. Haru returned with more drinks and a terrible Christmas joke he'd apparently just remembered from a Christmas cracker the year before, but which Yagyuu thought he'd made up in his brief excursion to the kitchen. They ended up watching a string of movies which the other male picked out from his small collection of DVDs, from Phantom of the Opera through to Roman Holiday. Haru had laughed for a full five minutes when he'd found the latter, but that didn't stop him getting swept up in the romance until it was Yagyuu's turn to laugh at him.

It was well past midnight when they finally grew tired of movies, and Yagyuu swore when he noticed the time. Haru choked on the last of his drink when he did, causing them to laugh some more, intoxication making it come out more like giggles than actual laughter.

"I should probably get going." Yagyuu didn't fail to notice the reluctance in Haru's voice.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to." The silence that followed should have been awkward, as he stared intently into Haru's deep blue eyes, the other male staring down at him from his place next to the sofa. But then Haru grinned and flopped back down again, settling back into the cushions as though he hadn't just stood up and made to leave.

"Okay. I won't then."

Yagyuu blinked, doing his best to keep the grin off his face, but knowing he'd failed when Haru grinned right back at him. He knew he shouldn't be happy that the dancer was going to stay (certainly nothing was going to happen), but he couldn't help it. "Won't your boyfriend mind you staying over?" Another thing he couldn't help was apparently his mouth. Haru's smile melted right off his face, only to be replaced by a frown, and Yagyuu inwardly cursed himself.

"Rin isn't my mother. He doesn't control what I do." Haru's voice was bitter, but the brunet knew it wasn't directed at himself. "Besides, if he  _was_  my mother, she  _definitely_  wouldn't be okay with me staying."

Yagyuu wondered what exactly he meant by that, but any questions he had were quickly forgotten when the dancer complained about his back aching and began to stretch, hideous Christmas jumper riding up as he lifted his arms. The brunet glanced away, chugging the last of his beer as he tried to forget to sight of creamy skin.

\---

Come morning, Yagyuu was forcibly reminded why he didn't like to drink. His mouth felt like sandpaper, and the sunlight streaming through his windows made him want to crawl back under the covers. Or at least have his glasses so he could have one extra layer of protection between his eyes and the light of evil. But he'd given up his glasses long ago, and struggled through his usual morning routine of putting in contacts (more often than not poking himself elsewhere in the face before he managed to get them into his actual eyes). By the time he was dressed, still in his pyjamas but at least more presentable and no longer looking like a hedgehog, he could hear the sounds of someone's failed attempts at being sneaky.

When he entered the kitchen, he wasn't surprised to see Haru crouched in front of the fridge, hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, boxers riding almost sinfully low. Yagyuu looked away with a cough, causing the dancer to jump in surprise as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Hey, Katahiro. Don't mind me."

The brunet couldn't help but smile at Haru's feigned innocence. "If you're after some breakfast, you could have just asked me."

Haru waved his comment aside. "I can make my own breakfast, as long as I can get my hands on some food. Got any cereal?" Yagyuu pointed him to the right cupboard, busying himself with making a morning mug of coffee. Haru scrunched his nose up at the smell, pouring himself a glass of orange juice instead. The brunet couldn't help but feel comfortable,  _happy_  even, that things were so easy between them. But then Haru stretched up to put the cereal back in the cupboard, and another glimpse of creamy skin reminded Yagyuu that maybe his situation wasn't quite as  _comfortable_  as he liked to think.

"So, you staying in town for Christmas?" Haru asked him through a mouthful of cereal. Yagyuu winced slightly at his manners, only to get a grin in response, and he rolled his eyes.

"No, not this time. My parents would like me back so I'll be staying with them over the holiday."

He couldn't help but notice the disappointment in Haru's gaze, even though the other male nodded in understanding. "Sounds fun. I'll be here all holiday." He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Yagyuu couldn't help but wonder if there was a problem between Haru and his parents. But neither of them brought the topic up again, Haru saying goodbye just before lunch, Yagyuu watching him and his reindeer horns leave until he could no longer see him down the street.

\---

Christmas at the Yagyuu household was uneventful. His mother looked healthier than she usually did at this time of year, and that was enough of a Christmas present for the entire family. His grandparents visited later in the day, bringing with them a selection of sweets that Yagyuu didn't want to work out how many years they were past the sell-by date. Naturally, along with added family members came the questions about his life, and he shared a conspiratorial eye-roll with his mother as the rest of the family began to interrogate him.

"How's university going, Hiro-chan?"

"It's going wonderfully, grandmother. The numbers are still numbers."

"Have you made any friends, Hiroshi-kun?"

"Yes, grandfather, I'm sure mother has told you all about them."

"Any nice girls?"

"Tomoyo is a friend, nothing else."

His sister snickered at his response to the last question, and Yagyuu winced as she shoved another handful of sweets into her mouth. "I think the right question to ask, grandfather, is whether my big brother has a  _boyfriend_  yet."

Their grandfather narrowed his eyes a bit, and Yagyuu did his best not to fidget under his scrutiny. On the other side of the table, his mother hushed his sister and smiled at him supportively. Yagyuu was suddenly really grateful that he'd told her all about his feelings for Niou back when he'd been working them out.

Eventually, his grandfather blinked and sat back in his chair, folding his arms as he pretended to nod sternly. "Boyfriend, huh? Makes sense to me."

Both Yagyuu and his father choked in unison, the responding laughter diffusing any lingering tension at the dinner table.

\---

Boxing day marked another Rikkai reunion, this time at one of the local parks. Yagyuu arrived early, a large carry-out cup of coffee in hand, desperate to keep himself warm despite his layers. There was a light layer of frosting on the ground and trees, but no snow yet, for which he was thankful.

"Hey, Hiroshi." He glanced over to greet Jackal, who was so bundled up that only his face was visible beneath the layers of hats and scarves, and Yagyuu couldn't help but laugh at his friend. "Oi, no making fun of me. You know I don't get along well with cold." Jackal sipped at his own coffee, having obviously thought of the same method of keeping warm. Instead of standing around and getting colder, the two former team mates decided to walk around a little.

"How's your job going?" Yagyuu questioned him between sips of steaming liquid. Jackal pulled a face (or at least, the brunet thought it looked like he did).

"It's going great, actually. Marui still makes fun of me everyday, though." He laughed briefly, and Yagyuu hid a smile behind his cup. "Not that I blame him. A modeling job? Me?" This time, Yagyuu laughed alongside him. Another reason that Jackal had been the team's choice of topic for making fun of for a while now was that a contract with a modeling agency had followed shortly after the half-Brazilian had stopped shaving his head. Marui, who had always prided himself on being a ladies' man, had been equal parts amused and offended that the agency had approached Jackal instead of him. "Still, it gives me extra pocket money, and the work isn't difficult, so it's not like I'm struggling while I'm at uni."

Yagyuu nodded, briefly wondering if he'd have to get a job in between his lectures. He dismissed the thought quickly in favour of returning Akaya's wave as he noticed the high school student running down the path towards them.

"Jackal-senpai, Hiroshi-senpai!"

"Yo, Akaya. Bouncy as always, huh?"

Akaya grinned, somehow looking demonic despite his cute elf hat. "Of course I am. Buchou just bought me a hot chocolate!"

Yagyuu raised an eyebrow. "And you've finished it already?"

The change in Akaya's expression was almost comical. "Uh... No." Jackal laughed, and the raven-haired teen practically pouted. "I saw you two and thought I'd come say hi. I better get back to buchou or he'll probably kill me. Or worse!"

Jackal laughed again, even more so when they spotted Yukimura walking towards them, two drinks in hand.

"Hiroshi, Jackal."

"Yo, Seiichi."

Yagyuu nodded in greeting, hiding a smile as Yukimura stopped Akaya mid-apology by balancing his hot chocolate on his head. Akaya's eyes widened comically in the brief second that their former captain let go of the cup before his own hands managed to steady it.

"How have you both been?" Yukimura's voice was quiet as always, but Yagyuu still heard him over Akaya's babbling.

"Good. I've been good." Jackal nodded briefly in response, too busy laughing at Akaya, but they both knew that the question had been directed more at Yagyuu than at him. Yukimura smiled genuinely, sipping at what smelled like tea, and Yagyuu felt himself relax a little more now that he'd passed the blue-haired male's silent interrogation.

Marui and Yanagi arrived together not long after, also armed with warm drinks. The first thing out of Yanagi's mouth after a brief greeting was a prediction that Sanada would have chosen to deal with the cold in a stoic manner, and wouldn't have gone for a warm drink. Yukimura had merely sighed in a long-suffering way, joking that he refused to take Yanagi up on his bet before briefly taking his leave. Indeed, when he returned, former vice-captain in tow, the shorter male was still trying to press a cup of warm tea into his hand. If the light blush on Sanada's face was anything to go by, he had chosen not to get a warm drink, and was both embarrassed yet pleased that Yukimura was trying to take care of him.

Yagyuu was most impressed that Akaya only gaped at his captain and vice-captain for a brief moment before he turned to Yanagi and began ranting about his high school team as usual.

"Hey, Renji-senpai, did you see the latest match we played?" Apparently the use of first names was becoming universal. Yanagi gave the teen a small smile and a nod, and Akaya's grin was borderline demonic again. "I was awesome, right? Buchou said I was awesome. Of course, he wasn't able to come and see the actual match, but I know fukubuchou told him all about it. Thanks by the way, fukubuchou. You being there was great for kicking my team mates up the butt and actually taking things seriously." Sanada adjusted his trademark cap, which was enough of an indication for the team to know that he was trying not to smile. Akaya didn't linger long, turning to talk to Marui instead. "By the way, Bunta-senpai."

The redhead tugged at his cheek in order to interrupt him. "That's 'Marui', you rascal. I told you last time."

Akaya mock glared. "But Hiroshi-senpai doesn't mind me calling him 'Hiroshi', huh, Hiroshi-senpai?"

Yagyuu rolled his eyes. "It's better than the alternative."

The teen grinned, turning back to Marui as if to say 'I told you so', and this time it was the redhead's turn to roll his eyes. "Alright, whatever." Akaya's celebration was enough that he forgot his train of thought, allowing the others to take the conversation onto less tennis-oriented topics. But, as usual, their youngest friend had a one track mind, because by the time he'd finished his hot chocolate he was already back to talking about his favourite sport.

"Wouldn't it be great if we could have a tournament between the old regulars one day?" Akaya tugged the bobble on his hat as he thought out loud. "Y'know, just for nostalgia's sake."

Marui whispered something to Yukimura about not knowing that Akaya could use such big words, but his comment went unheard. Akaya turned to look at the rest of the group, and Yagyuu sighed as he recognised the determination in the teen's eyes.

"Come on, it'd be fun. It would be just like practice used to be. Only with less laps." He dodged instinctively out of the way of one of Sanada's slaps, which never came because the former vice-captain seemed to be having a silent conversation with Yanagi over everyone's heads.

"It could be entertaining, I suppose." Yukimura's response seemed to be all that the others needed, because soon they were all voicing their thoughts. Yagyuu didn't disagree with them. It  _would_  be nice to all be back on the courts together, but he also knew that the only two people who still regularly held a racket were Sanada and Akaya himself. Jackal joked that it would be a little unfair to have them both go all out on the rest of them, to which Akaya cheekily said that it was their own faults for allowing themselves to get so shabby.

This time he didn't manage to dodge Sanada's hand, and spent the rest of the reunion occasionally rubbing the back of his head where he'd been cuffed.

Yagyuu didn't think any more of the tournament that had been suggested, putting it aside as the others went onto other topics again. Marui was talking about his latest girlfriend, with Jackal's occasional exasperated input. Yagyuu entertained the team with the brief bits of gossip he'd gotten from Saeki and Kenya, and was only a little surprised when Yanagi confirmed some of the rumours he'd heard about Seigaku. Apparently he and Inui had been in contact a lot recently, and so knew quite a lot about the goings-on of his childhood friend's old team.

Towards the end of the afternoon, just as Akaya was beginning to look like he would complain at the lack of food, Marui popped a bubble louder than he'd expected, laughing nervously when the others all turned to look at him.

"It would be great if someone caught up with Niou one day." He said in an attempt to distract them from the blush on his cheeks. Yagyuu noticed Jackal tense beside him, but he quietly agreed with the tensai's comment.

"It's up to Niou to contact us." He could practically hear Akaya's jaw hit the ground, he was gaping so much. Yagyuu raised an eyebrow as he noticed that the others seemed equally surprised. Was it really so much of a surprise that he was willingly talking about Niou? He supposed it  _had_  been a long time since he'd brought up his former doubles partner so casually. "We've all tried several times. He'll contact us when he's ready and wants to."

There were only a few seconds of awkward silence before Yukimura nodded. "Hiroshi's right. If Niou doesn't want to talk to us, then he'll continue to do just that." Despite his words, Yagyuu could tell that his former captain missed their ex-team mate just as much as the rest of them.

\---

New Year's Eve dawned cold and frosty, and Yagyuu joined his sister in breathing out frost dragons in the late night air. He and his family had gone to the park in the centre of town to watch the fireworks that would be happening at midnight, but there was still a long while until the countdown began. The brunet glanced over at his parents, his mother tucked firmly against his father's side in order to keep her warm, and shoved his little sister towards them, motioning to his phone as he did so. His sister rolled her eyes, tucking herself against their father's other side and saying something about "Hiroshi's talking to his boyfriend".

Yagyuu rolled his eyes, scrolling through his contacts and dialing the first number he came across. It didn't take him long to call all of his friends to wish them a happy new year. Marui and Jackal had been at the same New Year's party, and Yukimura and Yanagi had been at Sanada's. Yagyuu was more than a little amused that Kenya was spending the night with  _all_  of his family, and had even spoken briefly with his cousin after what sounded like the phone being wrestled from the former Speed Star's hands.

The last person on his list to call was Haru, and Yagyuu debated for a long time whether it was even worth doing so. But, after Tomo had spoken to him, and mentioned that she hadn't seen the other dancer since before Christmas, Yagyuu decided it was worth it, if only to stop himself from getting worried in the first place.

As the dial tone rang, the brunet briefly wondered if Haru would even pick up. What if he was out partying and didn't hear his phone ring at all? To his surprise, Haru picked up on the second ring.

"Hironori!" Yagyuu could practically hear the grin in the other male's voice, but he was also surprised that there was no club music in the background.

"I thought you'd be out partying."

Haru made a noise that sounded like a scoff. "Nah, I'm too poor for that." Yagyuu smiled slightly, even though he knew that no one could see it. "I'm just taking a walk, actually. Thought it might be nice to go through the park and watch the Tokyo fireworks on my own tonight."

It was probably wrong that the first thing Yagyuu latched onto was that Haru wasn't with his boyfriend. Thankfully, what came out of his mouth had nothing to do with that. "I'm doing the same, though I'm out with my family tonight."

Haru chuckled. "Sounds like great fun."

"Perhaps not the best, but I've got better company now." The silence that followed was surprisingly comfortable, and Yagyuu was grateful that he hadn't crossed an invisible line.

"Hey, Hiroto?" The other male sounded uncharacteristically shy. Yagyuu could do nothing but hum his permission to continue. "Mind staying on the line until midnight? It's kinda lonely here."

He hated the way his heart flipped in his chest. "Sure. I don't mind at all."

The relief in Haru's voice was almost audible. "Awesome." He laughed quietly, and Yagyuu knew it was more out of stress relief than actual humour. "Y'know, having your voice is almost as good as having the real you with me."

This time, Yagyuu laughed quietly. "Really? You think my voice is really that good?"

He could already picture Haru's grin. "You have no idea. At least this way I don't have to deal with your face, though." The brunet chuckled along with him, but he couldn't help but wonder if he was missing something, or even if he was reading too much into the other male's words. Regardless, he didn't put the phone down until way after midnight, the two of them counting down the New Year together. As the first of the fireworks erupted in the sky, Yagyuu silently wished to spend more time with Haru, and that he'd get to know him even better than he did before.

\---

 


	4. Chapter Four

The new year continued much as the previous one had, but with more exams. Despite his wish, Yagyuu saw Haru a lot less frequently than before, both due to increased revision and the poor weather cancelling their weekly runs. By the time they finally had enough time to meet up, it was already late January.

"Catch up, slow-poke!" Yagyuu rolled his eyes as Haru sped up ahead of him, practically dancing around the puddles that still remained from the previous night's rain. Even though the brunet no longer had trouble keeping up with the pace Haru set for them, the dancer still liked to point out that he was in much better condition, often running circles,  _literally_ , around him while they were out on their runs.

The shorter male turned to grin at him over his shoulder as he allowed him to catch up, and Yagyuu couldn't help but stare once more at the change in his hairstyle. It was still long over all, but he'd shaved the side that had previously been plaited. The fuzz that remained had been dyed a light silver, almost platinum, and Yagyuu found it  _fascinating_. Haru obviously caught him staring, because he grinned again.

"It's weird, huh? I keep meaning to dye it black again, but other stuff keeps getting in the way." He scratched the back of his neck briefly, and Yagyuu pretended that his eyes weren't drawn to the skin at the nape of his neck. "Rin complains about it often enough that I'm not even sure why I did this in the first place. Would have been easier to just leave it how it was."

Yagyuu shook his head, even though Haru wasn't looking at him. "No, I think you should keep it." The dancer faltered uncharacteristically, allowing the brunet to overtake him. "Definitely keep it." He said with a grin. "Silver makes you look dashing."

He didn't fail to notice the way Haru twitched at the compliment, frozen on the spot briefly as Yagyuu continued to run past him. But then the other male grinned, the bounce back in his step, and they finished the rest of their run side by side.

\---

Yagyuu used his Secret Santa gift to celebrate the end of exam season, giving the two free tickets to Haru and Tomo whilst he and Shin paid for their own tickets. Despite his initial protests, Haru was quick to agree after Tomo made him promise to cook dinner for them afterwards. The movie they chose was pretty boring, terrible even, and Haru spent the entire journey back to his apartment bragging about the fact that he hadn't paid to see it. Yagyuu didn't mind though; he was still busy trying to figure out exactly how he felt about the dancer, and any chance they had to spend time together only helped towards that. If Shin's gaze focused on Tomo's back as she made Haru carry her the rest of the way by piggyback was any indication, then his friend was in a similar situation.

Haru's apartment was small, just a one bedroom flat that was almost smaller than Yagyuu's own, even more so for the fact that it was clear that two people lived in it. There was clutter everywhere, mostly course books and paperwork, but there was something almost comforting about the messiness of the place.

Dinner was a short affair. Haru hadn't been lying when he'd said that he wasn't a great cook. Yagyuu spent more time in the kitchen helping the other male prepare the food than he did in the living room with the other two guests. But every time Haru laughed sheepishly, after picking up the wrong ingredient or making a mess all over the counter top, Yagyuu decided that he would have rather been in the kitchen anyway, even if it meant fighting to keep his butterflies under control.

Nothing of incident happened until they were tidying up their dessert plates, Tomo and Haru taking charge of washing the dishes. Yagyuu didn't even notice that anything had happened until Shin straightened up, looking at something over his shoulder, and the brunet turned to see what he was looking at.

It didn't take a genius to connect the dots and identify the newcomer as Rin. He'd expected Haru's boyfriend to be gruff-looking, burly even, but this man was surprisingly weedy, and Yagyuu's first thought was that they were severely mismatched. He wore glasses that were clearly more for fashion than necessity, the thick rims dividing up his face and making his nose stand out more than it would without them. Yagyuu's second thought was that he looked a lot better in glasses than this man did.

"Who're you?" Yagyuu's third thought was that this man could do with a better set of manners.

"We're Haru's friends." Shin was the one who responded, and it wasn't until Rin looked away that the brunet realised his eyes had been on him the entire time.

"I wasn't told we'd be having guests."

"That's because  _we_  weren't.  _I_  was."

Yagyuu glanced over to see Haru in the doorway to the kitchen, a tea-towel in one hand and a frown on his face. Rin's brows furrowed at his comment, eyes darting back and forth between the three males. Yagyuu didn't fail to notice the fact that he didn't seem keen that Haru had other male friends. It was only when Tomo glided into the living room, a smile on her face but a threat in her eyes, that Rin stopped frowning, huffing loudly and heading off to the bedroom with a mutter of "Do what you want."

Haru sighed, running a hand through his hair and wincing when he realised it was still damp. "Sorry, guys. I can do the rest of the clean up myself."

Tomo patted his arm gently as she passed, and Yagyuu felt the need to go over and do the same. But he didn't move from his spot across the living room, almost rooted to the floor in his indecision. Haru seemed to notice his struggle, because he shot him a smile that almost reached his eyes.

"Seriously, I'll be fine, Hiroyuki." Haru had called him that once before, and Yagyuu recognised it as a sign that the other male was being serious. "I'll see you at the weekend, okay?"

The brunet nodded reluctantly, following Tomo and Shin to the door. As Haru shut it behind them, Yagyuu couldn't help but wonder if he should have been more insistent in helping him.

\---

Spring arrived, and with it an early hanami. Yagyuu debated asking Haru to come along with him, since he'd heard the other male complaining that it had been a long time since he'd done anything for the festival, but he reasoned against it. The brunet was going with the rest of the Rikkai team, as had become a tradition of theirs, and it felt odd to invite Haru to come with. Jackal and Marui were the only people who had ever brought anyone along before, and that had been their girlfriends.

Hanami was beautiful, as expected, though nothing exciting happened except the unexpected fit of sneezes Yukimura went into after smelling a particularly strong-scented bunch of blossoms. Yagyuu joined the others in laughing, not at their former captain but at Sanada's indecision as to whether to comfort the shorter male or laugh along with the rest of them.

The rest of spring came and went without any other occurrences, other than a handful of Tomo and Haru's dance shows which they both insisted Yagyuu and Shin attend. Yagyuu didn't fail to notice that Haru's boyfriend started showing up to them, even though he'd never shown an interest before. It was almost as though he was claiming his territory, and the act was so childish that Yagyuu decided to avoid awkwardness all together by spending more time with Kenya and Saeki.

It was interesting to see how much had changed with their middle school peers since they'd all gone to university. A bitter Saeki reported that Tezuka was doing well in the European Opens, and that Fuji was sacrificing his education to travel around with him. Even Kenya was able to able to see that the subject was a difficult one for the light-haired male, and smartly changed the topic to ask about his former Rokakku team mates.

"They're all doing well, last I heard." Saeki took a bite of his pastry with a little more force than necessary, and Yagyuu shared a conspiratorial glance with Kenya as they both realised Saeki was likely imagining his breakfast was something else entirely. "I only really keep in touch with Kentarou and Kurobane, but the others seem to be doing okay. I know that the Kisarazu twins are off together somewhere, which is a nice change for them. What about you, Kenya?"

The Osaka-native hummed through a mouthful of coffee before responding. "Caught up with Kura and Chitose over Christmas, and they're both doing well. Chitose dropped out of uni to go work in a coffee shop which is no surprise. He's far too lazy to put effort into something like uni."

Yagyuu smiled into his own coffee, recalling all the hilarious stories Kenya had told of his tall team mate falling asleep in surprising places during his time at Shitenhouji. "What about 'Kura'?"

Kenya rolled his eyes at the brunet's mocking tone. "Being his usual perfect self and studying joint botany and pharmacology, apparently. He's aiming to be a pharmacist technician. S'alright for some." Saeki laughed, but Kenya ignored him in favour of continuing. "Gin's engaged to a real sweetheart. Kinda surprising, but he's a big softy under all that muscle."

If the other two former-tennis players were surprised that someone their age was already engaged, it was nothing compared to the knowledge that Shitenhouji's Baka Pair were no longer together, and that one of them was even married with two kids already.

Kenya also had gossip on the Hyotei front, which he shared after much complaints about his cousin. "Atobe's off in England somewhere, I think. Probably flaunting his wealth and studying something obnoxious, but I've heard he's working as a tennis coach on the side. Not sure why he doesn't play any more."

"What about your cousin?"

The Speed Star rolled his eyes, downing the rest of his coffee as he did so. "Yuushi's fine. Unfortunately. I think he's studying engineering or something? I don't know. He'll probably be studying something else entirely by the time we start our second year. And he's always writing those stupid stories of his on the side, too."

Saeki muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'smut', and Yagyuu wished that he hadn't been drinking when he heard him. Once he'd recovered, the brunet realised that the other two were looking at him expectantly, and he rolled his eyes at their lack of subtlety.

"I told you already that Yukimura and Sanada are an item." Saeki rolled his eyes, as if the news had never been unexpected in the first place. Yagyuu supposed that it really hadn't. "Seiichi's also taken up physiotherapy alongside art. It's not enough that he has to be acing that, but he has to get his hands on a different subject, too."

Kenya laughed through a mouthful of pastry. "What're you willing to bet that he's doing it literally so he can get his hands on your fukubuchou some more?"

Yagyuu grinned, privately thinking that he had absolutely no doubt that that was Yukimura's reasoning for deciding to become a physiotherapist.

"What about that youngster of yours, the seaweed-haired one?"

"Akaya? He's doing well. Spends all his time telling us how his high school team are currently at the top of the tennis championships. Apparently it makes him extremely happy that they're constantly beating out Momoshiro and Kaidoh's team."

Kenya chuckled, stretching as he did so. "Sounds like he hasn't changed at all." Yagyuu sighed in mock exasperation, and Saeki patted him heavily on the back in mock sympathy.

"So, what about you and Haru, then?"

The question was such a shock that Yagyuu choked briefly on nothing. A quick glance at Saeki's face showed that he'd been right in thinking that the other male had timed his question exactly, and he shot him a brief glare.

"What do you mean, me and Haru?"

Across the table, Kenya rolled his eyes. "Seriously? You're going to dodge around the question?"

Yagyuu sighed. He knew there was no way of getting out of this, but how could he explain it when he didn't actually know what was going on between him and Haru anymore? "I don't know." He settled on responding. "I'm not sure what we are now. I mean, we're not dating, never have been, and he already has a boyfriend."

Saeki leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. "But you'd date him if his boyfriend wasn't part of the picture?"

It was such a stupid question that Yagyuu briefly considered not answering. "Of course I would. I just... I'm not even sure if he actually likes me like that. I mean, how do I know that I'm not just misinterpreting signals, and he's actually just being friendly?"

His response was a frown on two faces. "I say you just confront him about it." Kenya's voice was matter of fact, but Yagyuu could see the smile threatening to come through. "I mean, come on. What's the worst that could happen? You confess and get rejected? Who knows, maybe he'll even dump his boyfriend for you. Just come straight out with it, seriously."

But Yagyuu, almost instinctively, found himself complaining that it wouldn't be the gentlemanly thing to do.

\---

Final exams approached, eating into Yagyuu's free time more than he thought they would. He noticed that the others seemed to be stressed, too. The few brief times he saw Haru, the dancer looked thinner than before. Yagyuu didn't say anything when he explained it away as running more to take his mind off of exams, but he knew it was obvious that he thought the other male was lying.

Spending time with Haru wasn't the only thing that suffered in exchange for more exam revision. Yagyuu spent a long time talking to Sanada on speaker phone whilst double-checking formulas as he tried to explain to his former vice-captain that he just couldn't spare a weekend to come and hang out, and that amusement parks really weren't his thing anyway, so it was probably best that he wasn't there to put a damper on Marui's day. A small part of him recognised Sanada's desperation to get him turn up as the other male's way of telling him that he didn't particularly want to go either.

In the end, Yagyuu had to sit through an hour-long conversation with Akaya as he described the day in full detail. The knowledge that Yanagi had actually screamed on one of the rollercoasters almost made Yagyuu wish that he'd gone along.

"Hey, Akihiro!"

Yagyuu put a hand over his eyes as he opened them, shielding them from the sun as he searched for Tomo. She was standing above him, a grin on her face as she waited for him to sit up. The brunet groaned as he did so, pushing off the warm grass, a small part of him wishing she would leave just so he could spend his first free day after exams soaking up some warmth.

"How can I help you, Tomo-hime?"

Tomo practically giggled as she dropped into a crouch next to him. "You used to play tennis in middle school, right?" Yagyuu frowned. He'd only ever mentioned it to her once, and had no idea why she was bringing it up again. He nodded anyway, wondering where she was going with the conversation. But the raven-haired girl merely grinned, patting him on the head, and skipped off presumably to find Shin.

Yagyuu sighed, glancing around him for any sign to explain Tomo's behaviour, but the only thing he could see was an increased number of students milling about campus, and he would be willing to bet that that was due more to the good weather than anything else.

He was in the middle of contemplating whether to get up and follow Tomo, if only to solve the mystery of her behaviour, when he spotted a pair of feet out of the corner of his eye and a loud sigh announced Haru's presence as the other male flopped down beside him.

"Don't move." He said as he leant against Yagyuu's side. "I'm way too tired right now, so let me just borrow you as a pillow."

The brunet let out a small grin as he glanced down at Haru's face. He was definitely paler than he remembered. He did his best not to run a hand through the other male's hair, despite how much he wanted to.

"Did you hear, Hiroko?" Haru's voice broke the silence, and Yagyuu twitched, not having realised he'd been staring at him for several minutes.

"Hear what?"

Haru shifted to look up at him. "Apparently there's some previous championship-winning tennis team borrowing the courts for the day. It's not a big deal, but a load of the girls in my dance exam were super excited about 'all the sporty babes' that would be there." Yagyuu chuckled along with him, but he couldn't help but wonder.

"Any idea which team it is?"

The dancer shrugged, jostling Yagyuu's lap. "I'm not sure, but I know I heard someone say that people are free to come and watch them play. Apparently it's just a reunion thing, not an actual tourney or anything." They fell back into silence again, until Haru grinned at the look on Yagyuu's face. "You wanna go check it out, Hirochin?"

Yagyuu couldn't help but laugh, knowing he'd been caught. He allowed Haru to pull him upright, the shorter male grinning up at him before racing off, and the brunet followed behind, wondering just what sort of tennis team could have that much influence as to borrow university facilities.

When he caught sight of yellow jerseys, he kicked himself mentally for not realising sooner. Haru had come to a stop in front of him, blocking the entrance to the outdoor courts. Yagyuu couldn't see his face, but he guessed he was surprised at the number of students who'd decided to watch the former Rikkai regulars play.

"Dude, that is a lot of yellow."

The brunet laughed, pushing Haru forward to where he saw Tomo and Shin sitting on the nearby bleachers. Across the courts, Yagyuu spotted Kenya and Saeki in the crowd and shrugged at their questioning glances. He had no idea what his old team were doing here either. Unless... was this the practice Akaya had jokingly suggested a while ago? Yagyuu had dismissed it as one of the high school student's many random plans. He hadn't expected that Yukimura would have gone through with it. After all, who else could have organised it, particularly choosing a location that he knew Yagyuu wouldn't be able to avoid them in?

The former regular settled in between Tomo and Haru, determined not to join in with his former team mates unless they called for him.

He spent the next few minutes whilst the Rikkai members finished their warm-ups chatting with Tomo, who had recognised Jackal immediately from some clothing brand that she particularly liked, and was wondering what the chances were that she could get his number. Yagyuu had to team up with Haru in order to convince her that wasn't a good idea, if only to keep Shin sane. Eventually, the yellow-clad players stopped their exercises, spreading around the courts a little. Yagyuu noticed Sanada choosing the court nearest to them, and wondered if his former vice-captain had already spotted him.

But then Yukimura was saying something to the rest of the team in the centre of the courts, jacket strewn across his shoulders almost as a nostalgic after thought.

"Alright, everyone. Remember, we're not taking things seriously today." Akaya booed slightly, and a few members of the crowd laughed when Jackal cuffed him on the back of the head. "Tennis is just a way to connect your hearts." Here, Marui whistled slightly, and Yagyuu laughed when he noticed that the redhead was wiggling his eyebrows as he looked between Sanada and Yukimura. "It's been a while since we've all played together, but I think you'll agree with me. Tennis brought us together and made us all friends. And we all know how important it is to keep in touch with friends, since the more time you spend with them the more they become like family."

Yagyuu completely missed Haru's slight flinch at his side, too busy laughing at Tomo's observations as to whether Yukimura was male of female. In front of them, Sanada was obviously close enough to have heard her, and was adjusting his cap too often to be doing anything but hiding his laughter.

Yukimura's little speech over, the team split up to do some light rallying, Jackal joining Sanada on the nearest court, with Marui teaming up with Yanagi next to them. Akaya, however, after exchanging glances with his former captain, turned to look at the crowd.

"Hey, senpai!" He called out, squinting against the bright sun. "When are you gonna stop hiding and show yourself? There's a racket here with your name on it."

Yagyuu sighed, trying to hid his grin at his growing excitement to play against his former team mates. He couldn't hold the grin back any longer when Tomo noticed him shifting as he took off his jacket.

"Sorry guys, there's something I need to do." Both Tomo and Haru gaped at him in surprise as he stood up, vaulting the bar in front of them and joined Akaya on the centre court. The brunet did his best to ignore the fact that he could feel everyone's eyes on him immediately, particularly one set of dark blue ones that he knew were staring more intently than the rest. Instead, he turned to yell at Akaya. "Couldn't just leave me in peace, could you, wakame?"

Akaya grinned at the nickname, bouncing on his feet a little. "Of course not, Hiroshi-senpai."

Yagyuu reached over to ruffle his hair, before the rest of the team came to greet him.

"Yo, Hiroshi!" Marui and Jackal both greeted him with back-slaps as always, and Sanada passed him a familiar tennis racket and power wrists after their customary silent greeting. Yagyuu smiled slightly as he recognised them.

"Huh, talk about nostalgia."

Akaya bounced over to him again. "It's the same one, right? Sanada-fukubuchou said it was a waste to throw out perfectly good equipment, even though he forbade me from letting anyone else use them." Yagyuu chuckled quietly as he slipped the power wrists on, the weight of them almost comforting. He then swung the racket a few times, getting used to the feel of it in his hand, before turning to face his youngest team mate. Akaya's smile turned demonic in an instant. "Hurry up and warm up, senpai. I need to play you because Gentleman Yagyuu is the only regular I never got to face off against."

Laughing quietly, Yagyuu agreed, already starting a brief jog around the courts to stretch his limbs.

"No dirty tricks this time though, senpai!" Akaya called out after him.

"Sure. Just as long as you play doubles against me." The high school student pouted, but bounced over to Yukimura anyway, taking him away from where he'd been observing Yanagi and Sanada's match.

As the brunet passed the bleachers where his university friends were sitting, he briefly heard Haru explain the difference between singles and doubles to a confused Tomo. For some reason, the other male sounded a little surprised, but Yagyuu pushed it aside in favour of continuing his laps. When he passed by the section where Kenya and Saeki were sitting, he looked up at them with a silent question.

It didn't take long for Kenya to shrug off his hat and sunglasses, handing them to Saeki before jumping down to join Yagyuu on the court.

"Reckon we can pull it off?" The Osaka-native shot him a cocky grin, and Yagyuu couldn't help but return it.

"We don't even need to worry about Akaya. Besides, Yukimura's never been the best at doubles unless it's with Sanada or Yanagi, so as long as he doesn't decide to get all 'Child of God' on us, I reckon we'll do just fine."

Kenya laughed, holding his hand out to bump fists with him before running off to collect a racket from Jackal, who was digging around in the equipment bags the team had brought with them. Yagyuu headed over to the court Akaya and Yukimura had chosen. His former captain greeted him with a smile before tugging Akaya over to one side of the court, and Yagyuu chuckled to himself even as Kenya joined them.

"Yo. Oshitari Kenya, nice to meet you." Akaya grinned, returning the greeting with one of his own, and when they moved to the baseline Kenya shot Yagyuu an amused glance out of the corner of his eye. "You weren't kidding, were you? He's still a bouncy little devil."

Laughing slightly, Yagyuu served the first ball of the game, pleased to see that he hadn't lost too much of his old tennis sense. The four of them continued to rally for a long time, until Kenya surprised them all by pulling off a successful drop shot. The game continued in a similar manner, each of them adjusting to their partners. Yagyuu was silently glad that both he and Kenya were predominantly doubles players, which made it easier for them to adapt to each other. Kenya and his speed took over the baseline, more easily able to cover the distance than Yagyuu, whilst the brunet stuck to the net and waited for his opening.

Yukimura and Akaya, despite being the better players, were not particularly doubles-minded. Even though Akaya had played doubles a lot with Yanagi during middle school, he'd had another three years of just singles to cancel out any doubles-sense he'd developed, and Yagyuu noticed it immediately in the way his two team mates tended to favour one side of the court each. It wasn't long before they were drawn at three games all, Yagyuu scoring them a final point by pulling off a Laser Beam. Yukimura was there to return it, as expected, but he didn't expect that Yagyuu had been the cover for Kenya to slip in and score with another drop shot.

In the stands behind them, the brunet heard Tomo gushing over how call his signature move had been, and he used the time between changing courts to call out to her.

"I'm a little bit rusty, but it's not bad for the first time using it in years."

Tomo shook her head, a grin on her face. "No, it was awesome, Hiroshita!"

Yagyuu returned her smile with a brief chuckle, as well as acknowledging that she wasn't done with her funny nicknames. "Well, you can thank the best doubles partner I ever played with for helping me come up with it."

The match continued, Yukimura and Akaya clearly having used the brief break as an opportunity to change their game plan, because they were working together much more seemlessly. Yagyuu was pleased that even though he and Kenya lost 6-4, he was impressed that they'd managed to hold their own for so long, despite the fact that neither of them had played proper tennis for several years.

Akaya was apparently also satisfied with the match. After jokingly telling Kenya that he ought to stop speeding around too much (Yagyuu knew he was just jealous, because Kenya's speed rivaled any of the Rikkai members even when they'd been in peak condition), he ran off to find Sanada, a huge grin on his face. The Osaka-native merely shook his head, handing Yagyuu the racket he'd been using and thanking Yukimura for the match as he approached them.

"I'll buy you breakfast next time." Yagyuu promised, and Kenya grinned as he headed back to the bleachers.

"You better. I'm tired of paying for yours and Saeki's all the time."

After a brief chuckle, Yagyuu turned to see his former captain smiling at him.

"You seem a lot happier, Hiroshi." The brunet tilted his head slightly in question, not entirely sure he understood Yukimura's meaning. "You seem to finally be getting over Niou."

Yagyuu glanced at the stands almost instinctively, aware that the blue-haired male followed his gaze, both of them catching Haru's intense stare. The brunet smiled, ignoring the butterflies that threatened to appear when Haru returned it with a small smile of his own, and turned back to his former captain.

"Maybe I've just found someone else to focus on instead."

\---

Yagyuu spent the rest of the afternoon facing off against various combinations of his team mates, or being umpire for their matches. He and Jackal seemed to be the only pair that could give the old Yanagi-Kirihara combination a run for their money, beating them 7-5. The crowd that had gathered to watch them in the beginning had mostly dissipated, but Yagyuu still saw Tomo sitting between Haru and Shin, and returned her wave when she noticed him looking at them.

Eventually, Akaya announced that he had to head back, or he'd be late for his tennis practice early the next morning. Despite Marui's joke that he could be let off once, seeing as he'd been playing tennis the entire day, Sanada was having none of it, and practically escorted him off the campus. Yanagi was next to leave, Marui staying long enough to chat with Yukimura about something before running off, phone already attached to his ear.

Yagyuu still had the racket Sanada had given him, and turned to ask his former captain what to do with it when he noticed that his university friends and come over.

"Hey, we're heading off as well now, so..." Tomo grinned at him. "I guess we'll see you later, Hiroshi?"

The brunet nodded, watching as she and Shin left, dragging Kenya and Saeki along with them. Out of the corner of his eye, Yagyuu noticed that Haru was still sitting in the bleachers, and tried to send him a questioning glance but merely got a wave in return.

"Hiroshi."

"Hm?" He turned to see that Yukimura had approached him, and sent his captain a tired smile in explanation for why he hadn't heard him.

"You can keep the racket."

The brunet smiled gratefully, before glancing back at Haru and making a spur of the moment decision. "Any chance you have a spare racket I can borrow?"

Jackal, standing nearby, sighed as he unzipped the equipment bag he'd just finished tidying up. He picked out a racket and a handful of balls, passing them to Yagyuu with a mock glare. "You look after this stuff, okay? It's on my back if Sanada finds out you've lost any of it."

Yagyuu grinned, accepting the racket with a quick thanks, and nodding as the half-Brazilian packed up again and said goodbye. By the time it was just himself and Yukimura on the court, Yagyuu noticed that Haru had come a little closer to them, and he waved the dancer over, holding out the spare racket in a silent voicing of his intention. He didn't notice Yukimura staring at Haru intently before quietly saying his goodbyes.

"I hope things continue to work out for you, Hiroshi."

Yagyuu nodded at his former captain, before smiling widely when Haru stepped forward to accept the racket being handed to him. He looked at it speculatively for a long moment, turning it around in his hands before joining the brunet on the court.

"So. Now I finally know your name." Yagyuu winced, but he couldn't help but laugh a little in an attempt to cover his nerves.

"You aren't mad, are you?"

Haru laughed back. "If my name was Hiroshi," He drew out the vowels in his name, and Yagyuu's stomach flipped pleasantly. "I'd be pretty embarrassed too. So no, I'm not mad." Before the brunet could dwell too much on the dancer's words, Haru grinned at him playfully. "Are you gonna serve me that ball or not?"

Yagyuu rolled his eyes, starting up a light rally, not even complaining about that fact that he didn't play singles any more. He was enjoying himself too much to think about it, but apparently his mind was definitely somewhere else, because Haru surprised him by taking a point with a cross-shot. When he raised an eyebrow in surprised question, the dancer grinned at him.

"I used to play tennis in middle school, too, y'know."

"Oh really?" Yagyuu tried to recall if Haru had ever told him so before. He remembered briefly talking about it on their first run, but the other male had never told him explicitly whether he'd been on his school's team or not. "Maybe our schools played each other once."

Haru laughed again, and this time Yagyuu noticed it was a little too empty. "I very much doubt that." His comment was enough to distract Yagyuu and allow him to steal another point.

They continued playing for a while, the brunet soon noticing that Haru couldn't seem to settle between using his left or right hand. When he mentioned it, Haru sent him a cheeky smile, switching hands mid rally as if to prove a point.

"I've always been ambidextrous, but I spent so long playing right-handed as a kid that I'm not sure which I prefer anymore. There's something comfortable about playing right-handed." Yagyuu could understand what he meant. He'd spent so long playing left-handed whilst impersonating Niou that he was almost as comfortable with his left hand as his right. He wondered which was Haru's actual lead hand.

The rally continued in silence, neither of them willing to break their concentration, not even to force the other to break theirs. Until Haru surprised him by pulling off a move similar to a Laser Beam.

"Bah, that was pathetic." Haru was laughing as he swung the racket, rotating his wrist, but Yagyuu could see that he was pretty pleased with himself. "I guess it's close enough, huh?"

The brunet nodded, wondering out loud how the other male had managed to pick up his move so quickly.

Haru came over to his side of the court, collecting the ball from where it rested across the baseline and dropped it into Yagyuu's outstretched hand. "I don't think it's a case of picking it up quickly. More like taking a very long time to remember it."

Yagyuu sensed that his brain was being extra slow in working out whatever it was that Haru was trying to tell him. He knew his face said so too, because the shorter male eventually laughed, swinging the racket up on to his shoulder.

"Come on, Yagyuu."

The elongating of the vowels was painfully familiar, as was the cheeky grin that followed. There was a crushing moment where Yagyuu came to several realisations all at once, but most prominently was that he'd been stupid not to have noticed before. Haru was  _Niou_. He was  _Masa_ haru. Everything seemed to make sense, all the little clues that he'd been too... what? Ignorant? to have noticed before. And then he realised with a detached sense of joy that his old friend didn't hate him, couldn't hate him if he was still talking to him like this despite knowing who he was, how he'd hurt him in the past. And then came the over-powering sense of heartbreak as his brain reminded him that although this was Niou, although this was the first person he'd ever fallen in love with,  _Haru_  was already involved with someone else.

During his entire thought process, all that escaped him was a whisper of "Niou".

The trickster, he could see it now, rocked on his feet a little, laughing quietly at the expression on his face. Yagyuu didn't even have the energy to flinch when the shorter male leaned in to pat him on the shoulder.

"I'll keep hold of the racket until I can return it to Jackal, alright, Hiroyuki?" It was the same nickname again, and this time Yagyuu recognised it as an attempt to make him feel more comfortable. But his mind was still reeling. "Message me or something when your brain starts functioning again, okay?"

For the second time in his life, Yagyuu Hiroshi watched Niou Masaharu walk away and wished he'd done something to stop him.

\---

 


	5. Chapter Five

The first thing he managed to type out later that night, after several long showers, both hot and cold, was ' _how long did you know?_ '. Yagyuu was determined to work out just how long Niou had known who he was, because he didn't seem bothered enough by the realisation to have only found out earlier that day.

It didn't take long for his phone to buzz with Niou's reply, and his stomach leapt at the thought that the other male had been waiting for him to get in contact.

 _"I suspected the moment we met. I spent enough time memorising your features in middle school that I don't think I'd ever forget them."_  Yagyuu was briefly taken aback. He hadn't considered that Niou would have recognised him immediately. Why hadn't he said anything about it?  _"You saying you played tennis was all the proof I needed, though. There were no other 'Hiro''s who played tennis around the same time and were actually decent."_

The brunet couldn't help but chuckle at Niou's logic. But that still didn't answer another of his questions.

_"Why didn't you just confirm it when you found out?"_

This time it took Niou a while to respond, and Yagyuu wondered if something had happened. But sure enough, a response came through.

 _"I was... scared, I guess? I didn't want to say who I was since I was concerned you hated me. And there was no way I was getting away with calling you out on who you were without also having to explain who I was."_  Yagyuu frowned. Why would Niou think he hated him? He asked Niou the same question, despite somewhat expecting what the answer would be. They hadn't exactly ended their friendship on the best of terms. But Niou's response was completely unexpected.  _"You didn't recognise me, even after all that time we used to spend together. I was certain you'd forgotten me. So if Yagyuu didn't want to be friends with Niou anymore, then at least Haru could still be friends with Hiro."_

Yagyuu didn't even realise he'd dialed Niou's number until the other male picked up.

"Hir- Yagyuu?"

The brunet was almost sad that Niou didn't used one of his pet names. Instead, he focused on what was bothering him the most.

"How could you think I hated you?" Niou made a noise of surprise on the other end of the line, but Yagyuu didn't give him the chance to speak. "The opposite was always true. I always regretted losing touch with you and not being able to tell you that." He could sense that they were skirting a sensitive issue. Right now was not the time to bring up the way their friendship had ended before, not now that they were friends again.

"Yagyuu..." Niou's voice was tender, and the brunet could practically hear the slight smile on the other male's lips. "I guess this is our second chance at friendship, huh?"

Yagyuu didn't deny to himself that friendship wasn't what he wanted. Especially not now that he knew that Haru was Niou, and that he was dangerously close to being in love with both of them. But if friendship was what Niou wanted... "Yeah. Here's to being friends."

\---

It wasn't much of a surprise that he and Niou spent a lot more time together than before, after their realisation was out in the open. It was mostly just them catching up and sharing stories from their past few years, now that it no longer felt odd to share them with a 'new' friend. Yagyuu told Niou all about his mother's illness, which resulted in the other male demanding his phone so he could call her and see if she was okay. The brunet wasn't sure what made him happier; Niou's genuine concern over his mother, or that his mother's brief comment at the end of the phone call (that she was glad that they were together again) had the dancer blushing awkwardly for several minutes.

Niou, in turn, told him all about the huge fight he'd had with his parents. Throughout his story, Yagyuu had a sinking feeling that if he'd just stuck around a little longer all those years ago, things would have been very different. Niou's parents had found out about his feelings for his doubles partner, and had been less than pleased, taking him out of school in an attempt to distance him from the 'bad influence' of his friends. Yagyuu coming to the house to see him had been the final straw, and Niou had been kicked out later that summer. Thankfully a distant aunt had taken him in, and didn't seem to care what he did as long as it didn't land him in the hospital or the police station, but it had been the beginning of a rough time for the trickster.

"You know, you spend more time with me than you do with your boyfriend, I reckon." Yagyuu wasn't sure what had prompted him to say so, but it was true. He'd seen Niou more days than not during the last two weeks, and he knew that the other male spent most of his free time dancing whenever he wasn't with Yagyuu himself. Niou just shrugged, brushing his comment aside, and returned to staring out at the unexpected rain that had them holed up in the library.

Yagyuu took the drop in conversation as his chance to study the other male, noticing that he still looked pale and unhealthy, and couldn't help but wonder if he was somehow to blame. Perhaps Niou was stressing out over the situation more than he'd thought?

"You don't call me Haru any more."

Niou's statement was so quiet and unexpected that Yagyuu nearly didn't hear him. But then he noticed the twitch in his eyebrow, and remembered that it had been one of Niou's tells back in the day.

"I'm sorry." He decided his best course of action was to be honest with the other male. "It just... feels wrong to do so now."

Niou frowned lightly. "Why? Because Haru is somehow different to Niou?"

Yagyuu shook his head, watching the rain fall outside as he tried to figure out how to voice his thoughts. "Calling you Haru now... It feels too intimate." Niou blinked, opening his mouth to say something, and Yagyuu already knew that he was going to make a jab at him being 'gentlemanly'. "It has nothing to do with being a gentleman." He cut him off before he could say anything. Niou's jaw clicked shut audibly, and he raised an eyebrow as a hint to continue. Yagyuu ran a hand through his hair briefly, sighing as he did so. "I just... If I was jealous before, it's nothing compared to how I feel now." There were back on that dangerous topic again, but the brunet knew there was no going back now. "If I call you 'Haru' now, I'm not sure what I'd do if I never got to call you mine."

He left before he could see anything more than a look of surprise on his old doubles partner's face.

\---

Niou didn't mention their conversation the next time they met, but Yagyuu knew he hadn't forgotten it. Every now and then he would catch the other male staring at him intently, as though he was trying to solve a particularly difficult equation and didn't have all the pieces. Even Tomo had noticed his change in behaviour.

"Who would have thought you and Haru were old friends, huh? And that you were both idiots who were hiding their real names."

Yagyuu glanced over at the raven-haired girl as she sipped her coffee, watching Niou attempt to teach Shin some dance moves.

"You knew Haru wasn't his real name?"

Tomo rolled her eyes at him. "It  _is_  his real name. Just not his full name. Same for Hiro, right?" Yagyuu conceded the point to her. "Of course I knew, though. What sort of friend would I be if I didn't know your full name after being friends with you for a few years?" The brunet raised an eyebrow in question as he sipped at his own coffee. "Haru's aunt lives near my parents, so we went to the same high school together. He never told me about his old middle school, just that something had happened and he'd had to leave. I guess that something was you, huh?"

Yagyuu winced, not entirely certain it was fair of her to put all the blame on him, since Niou's parents had ultimately been the reason he'd had to move away. But, then again, it wouldn't have been an issue if he hadn't been there for Niou to fall in love with in the first place.

The petite dancer finished her drink with a long sigh, before shooting him a quick smile. "I still stand by the fact that I think you two would be great together, by the way. I'm on your team, Hirokatsu."

Yagyuu hid his relieved smile behind his mug, and watched as she joined their other friends outside, immediately latching onto Shin's back and demanding he dance with her.

By the time he'd finished his drink and made to leave the small cafe, Yagyuu was pretty certain that the others had all left. Evidently not, because when he stepped outside, glancing up at the setting sun, he heard the sound of Tomo's voice berating someone in the park a few metres ahead of him. The brunet knew he shouldn't interfere, but he couldn't help his curiosity. A quick glance showed that Tomo was talking to Niou, jabbing his chest with her finger as she shouted at him (albeit quietly).

"Being defiant isn't going to solve anything, Haru."

Niou frowned, knocking her hand away. "I'm not being defiant." Tomo raised an eyebrow, and Niou sighed as he realised he'd walked right into that one. "Alright, fine. But I'm not being defiant in the way you think I am."

Tomo glared up at him, and Yagyuu was briefly glad he wasn't on the receiving end of her ire. "Don't you mess with me, Haru. Doing something just because you know your boyfriend doesn't like it certainly counts as being defiant."

This time, Niou returned her glare with equal force. "I'm just doing what I want for a change, instead of always pampering to what everyone else wants. Besides, it's my hair, I can do what I want with it."

Yagyuu highly doubted that Tomo was putting up such a fight just because of Niou's hair (even if more of it was silver than before).

\---

"Are you sure they won't hate me?" Niou's hand was hovering over the door, his fear of opening it obvious in his refusal to move. Yagyuu laughed, putting his hand briefly over Niou's own and shoving him through the door. Almost immediately, Niou was lost under a bundle of red and black.

"Niou-senpai!"

Akaya's joy was audible, the high school student never once stopping his babbling even as the others caught up around him. Yukimura smiled at Yagyuu from across the table as he settled in next to Yanagi, and the brunet realised with a sinking feeling that his former captain had  _known_. Then again, he was still rather annoyed with himself that he hadn't figured things out sooner.

Marui eventually took the seat opposite Yagyuu, dragging Niou to sit down next to him and demanded to hear how the two of them had got in contact again. The brunet knew he deserved the rest of the team's laughter when Niou told them they'd actually been friends for nearly a year without knowing it.

As was typical of their youngest team mate, the moment Akaya stopped babbling happily at Sanada, who seemed to be glaring at Marui for taking the empty spot beside Yukimura while he'd gone to get drinks, he asked another of his usual tactless questions.

"Since you're back, Niou-senpai, does this mean you and Hiroshi-senpai are dating now?"

Niou and Yagyuu both choked on their drinks simultaneously. At the other end of the table, Yukimura surprised everyone by actually laughing, and for a few moments everyone was distracted from Akaya's question. But the raven-haired teen was determined to get an answer, and he nudged Yagyuu with his elbow.

"Seriously, Hiroshi-senpai. Are you two dating? Seeing as you said you still fancied him."

Yagyuu was glad that Sanada slapped Akaya around the head, because it gave him an excuse not to look at Niou's face when he responded.

"Sorry, Akaya, but I'm already taken." He laughed, but nobody failed to realise the lack of humour in it.

Akaya groaned, mock glaring at Sanada even as he turned to Yagyuu. "You really need to step up your game, senpai."

This time it was Yagyuu's turn to slap him.

But, as they made their way back to campus, the brunet couldn't help but wonder what exactly Niou's feelings towards him were. Did Niou still like him the way he used to? He hadn't made his feelings clear either way. Yagyuu sighed, trying to do his best not to look like something was bothering him, and returned the small smile Niou shot him from across the train. Maybe he was reading too much into their increased spending time together. Maybe it was literally just because Niou wanted to catch up, nothing more.

Whatever his former doubles partner's feeling were, however, Yagyuu was certain of one thing. He didn't want to push Niou into doing anything.

\---

It was a late Friday night when Yagyuu's doorbell rang unexpectedly. He glanced at his phone, wondering if he'd missed any messages telling him someone was coming over, but it remained ignorantly blank. The brunet got up with a sigh, putting down the book he'd been reading (the book Niou had given him for Christmas, and which he hadn't had time to read until now), and padded over to the door, wishing he was wearing more clothes than just his pyjamas.

The first thing he thought when he opened the door was that Niou looked like shit.

His hair was lanky, pulled into a haphazard bun on one side of his head, and Yagyuu saw that both sides were shaved and silver (a silver that he now knew to be the other male's natural hair colour, and not dye). There were dark circles under his eyes, and the rest of his face looked oddly gaunt. It didn't help that the clothes he was wearing seemed to be falling off his frame, and Yagyuu immediately recognised some of them as Shin's. Why was Niou wearing their friend's clothing? Had he borrowed them because something had happened?

"Niou..."

The trickster grinned up at him brokenly, and Yagyuu stepped aside without another word. As he locked the door behind them, he heard Niou quietly undressing, recognising the sound of fabric as it hit the floor. The brunet swallowed the lump that threatened to form in his throat, and turned to tell his friend that now was not the time. But he found himself incapable of saying anything when he noticed the bruises at the top of Niou's arms, finger-shaped markings standing out clearly against his skin.

"So." Niou's voice was oddly calm. "I broke up with Rin."

Yagyuu hadn't thought he could be happy considering the sight in front of him, but his heart betrayed him. "Haru..." He let the name slip without thinking about it, and was glad to see Niou smile at him, even if it was still tinted by sadness. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry, fool? It's not your fault he was a dick and I let him push me around too long." The shorter male allowed Yagyuu to usher him into the kitchen, where he led him to a seat and then proceeded to busy himself with the kettle. "I guess I should have realised it was never going to be a great relationship in the first place. Rin always wanted more from me than I was willing to give, but he liked me, and that's all I needed." Yagyuu glanced over and met Niou's gaze. The trickster smiled again, a little more genuinely. "At least, that's all I thought I needed. Guess I needed someone who actually loved me, huh?"

Yagyuu finished making tea, placing a steaming mug in front of the other male and doing his best not to smile when Niou picked up the scent of lemon amongst the green tea. "I'm still sorry though." The other male frowned, prodding the mug around the table. "I'm sorry you had to have this happen to you."

Niou scoffed. "I'm only sorry that it took until now for me to decide that he definitely wasn't what I wanted. Things would have been a lot easier if I'd stopped loving you a long time ago. Because maybe then I'd have actually been able to give him a chance."

His traitorous heart thumped loudly in his chest. "I'm glad."

Niou laughed a little, and this time there was definite humour in his smile. "You didn't used to be this self-centered, Yagyuu. Being happy that someone's just broken up with their boyfriend doesn't seem like you."

Yagyuu shook his head, moving the mug of hot liquid to one side, drawing the other male's attention away from where he'd been playing with it. "No. I'm glad that I no longer have to worry about whether you like me too."

For a brief moment, Niou looked lost for words. But then the trickster decided that words weren't necessary, and he launched himself across the table to where Yagyuu was waiting for him. He wasn't able to bring himself to say no when Niou's hands found their way into his hair, lips ghosting against his own with the whisper of his name. Yagyuu was just too happy to finally be doing what he should have done way back in middle school; he leant down, pulling the other male closer to him, and kissed him thoroughly.

\---

Yagyuu woke alone, and for one long moment he wondered if the last night had been a dream. But sunlight was streaming through the living room curtains, and Yagyuu knew that he wouldn't have left those open, so the only logical answer was that Niou had left already.

He wasn't entirely sure what was going on between the two of them anymore, even more so than when Niou had still been 'off limits'. Yagyuu remembered vividly kissing Niou last night, the way Niou's hands felt in his hair, tugging at his clothes, tracing the skin on his chest. He remembered both of them being too desperate to move from the kitchen, too needy to do anything but strip off their few remaining items of clothing before they were all over each other. Mostly he remembered Niou telling him that he could handle the pain, that the pain of them not being together now that they had the chance would be worse than any physical pain, and that the trickster had taken things into his own hands when the gentleman had faltered.

Yagyuu could still feel the scratch marks on his right shoulder where Niou's fingers had dug into his skin. He traced them lightly with his own fingers, before shrugging on a vest and jogging bottoms and shuffling into the kitchen. He didn't see a point in wrestling in contact lenses today, not when he didn't plan on going anywhere.

The brunet was halfway through a mug of coffee when heard the sound of his front door opening and froze, heart pounding. When Niou walked in, wearing a t-shirt that Yagyuu recognised as his own and his skin glowing with a fresh layer of sweat, he found his heart pounding for an entirely different reason.

"Hey."

Niou's grin was infectious. Yagyuu returned it with one of his own, and his reward was having the trickster slip around to lean on the kitchen table and kiss him soundly.

"Hey."

The shorter male laughed, stealing a sip of Yagyuu's coffee before rummaging through his cupboards. The brunet couldn't even bring himself to be bothered by Niou's lack of manners; it was something he'd done for as long as he could remember since he'd become friends with him, and the habit made his chest swell with quiet joy.

"How are you feeling this morning?"

Niou pulled a face at him over his shoulder as he poured himself some cereal. "My legs are stiffer than they've been in a very long time. I blame you entirely for that." Yagyuu didn't even bother hiding his laugh behind his mug.

"That's not what I meant." Niou slid into the seat opposite him, eyebrow raised in question. "How are you feeling after last night?"

"I already told you. Stiff." Yagyuu rolled his eyes at his friend's dodging of the question, but eventually Niou caved in, running a hand along the side of his head. The brunet followed the movement of his hand, doing his best not to stare too long at the way his digits curled into his hair. "Alright, spoil sport. I'm doing good, I guess? I kinda just want to forget that he was ever a thing, since a part of me wonders just how stupid I was to have ever gotten with him in the first place." Niou pulled a face again, and Yagyuu tried his hardest not to laugh at him. "But hey, considering the other things that happened last night, are we together now? Seeing as we did the nasty and everything."

This time, Yagyuu couldn't help but laugh, and was pleased to see Niou grinning at him from across the table. He fingered the handle of his mug, amused to see the trickster's gaze become briefly distracted before he answered.

"I'm not sure. I don't even know if I actually like you in that way."

Niou actually growled. Yagyuu was too busy laughing at his reaction to care when the other male knocked his mug to one side, coffee spilling everywhere as he leapt at him. His back collided solidly with the counter-top, his hands too full of trickster to brace himself, and he groaned long and hard into Niou's mouth as he latched onto him.

"Yagyuu." The brunet hummed in understanding, already helping the shorter male out of his clothing, t-shirt tossed casually in the same direction as his coffee. Niou was gasping breathlessly in between their kisses, and Yagyuu was almost certain that even if he'd been wearing contacts his eyesight would have been fuzzy. The trickster's hand worked its way into his jogging bottoms, a laugh escaping him when he found that the brunet wasn't wearing boxers.

Yagyuu hissed when the hand immediately retreated again, instead gripping his upper arm. But Niou didn't give him a chance to complain, instead using the extra leverage to pull himself up to whisper in the taller male's ear.

"I'm terribly dirty, Yagyuu." The brunet was inclined to agree, just from the sinful way the vowels passed through his lips. "Won't you help me get clean?"

He was actually amazed that they made it as far as the bathroom, and a little bit frustrated that they were both still clothed beneath the waist. Niou didn't protest at all when he lifted him on the sink and stripped him of the shorts he'd gone running in, and Yagyuu suddenly found it hard to swallow when he noticed that the other male had also chosen to go commando.

"Hey, Yagyuu?" He looked up to see Niou smiling at him, blue eyes intense. "You gonna let me down so I can undress you, or are you gonna have your way with me on this sink?" Yagyuu wasn't sure why the sink would have been such a bad idea, his mind immediately focused on other things when Niou slipped down to kneel in front of him, hands at the waistband of his trousers.

The trickster let out a noise of what sounded like approval as he pulled down Yagyuu's jogging bottoms, allowing them to pool at his feet as he stared up at him. In that moment, the brunet decided that he couldn't wait any longer; whatever Niou wanted, he could have.

"Yagyuu." There was that drawling voice again, sending shivers down his spine. "You better stop looking at me so intensely or I won't be able to stop myself." This time, Yagyuu shivered physically.

"What if I don't want you to stop?"

Niou looked briefly taken aback, but then he smiled widely, standing up and wrapping his limbs around Yagyuu's in one swift movement. A few steps had the trickster's back against the shower wall, his hands already buried in Yagyuu's hair, the brunet's hands holding him up firmly by the ass.

"What am I gonna do with you, Yagyuu?"

He knew that Niou meant it in a general sense, but he couldn't help himself. "Whatever you want to do to me, Niou-kun." The added honorific made the trickster grin playfully, and he briefly tightened his hold on Yagyuu's upper body.

"Not gonna lie, there's a few things I want you to do to me first, Yagyuu." The brunet hummed even as he nipped down the pale expanse of Niou's neck. "First off, you can start by kissing me." Yagyuu rolled his eyes playfully but gave in, relishing in the way Niou's hands tightened in his hair as he pushed his way into the other male's mouth. "You can put those hands of yours to work, too, if you want." The trickster added between kisses.

Yagyuu pushed him harder against the wall, ignoring the other male's hissed curse at the cold, and used the extra support to free one of his hands. He knew what Niou was asking for, but a part of him, part of him that had been brought about by his doubles partner in the first place, couldn't resist.

He turned on the shower full-blast, chuckling when Niou screamed loudly as the jet hit him full in the face.

"Fuck you, Yagyuu!"

He nuzzled into Niou's neck, ignoring the water hitting the side of his face, and licked the spot behind the other male's ear that made his entire body twitch. "I rather thought the whole point of this was for me to fuck you."

Niou's only response was something akin to a mewl, and another hissed curse. Yagyuu decided to take pity on him, shifting the trickster's body so it was closer to his own, and allowed him a bit more room for movement. As he pressed against Niou's entrance, aware that the other male was just as painfully hard as he was, he couldn't help but hesitate.

Fingers found his shoulder again, and Yagyuu remembered all over again how he'd gotten the marks in the first place. "Shit, Yagyuu. If you don't take me right here, right now, I swear I'll hurt you." He chuckled deeply, leaning forward to capture the other male's lips in a kiss as he pressed in, and was rewarded with a mumbled string of curses for his efforts. "Fuck, you feel so good."

Yagyuu laughed breathily into the trickster's hair, bracing one arm against the wall to keep himself steady as he began to move. Niou's hands didn't seem to know where they wanted to be; one minute they were in his hair, the next they were gripping his arms, tracing his chest, dipping between their bodies to touch himself briefly until he pulled away with a strangled gasp and the process repeated all over again. Every gasp and moan that tumbled from the trickster's mouth seemed to pool directly in Yagyuu's crotch.

"You wanna start moving faster, Yagyuu?"

Yagyuu groaned in agreement, even more so when Niou laughed and he felt the vibration through his entire body. The water from the shower continued to fall, covering them in a light sheen of droplets, and Yagyuu found himself briefly entranced by one that trailed lazily down the trickster's neck as his head lolled back against the tiles.

"Feels so good." Niou's Adam's apple bobbed as he talked, and Yagyuu swallowed heavily. Unable to stop himself any longer, he leant forward to trace the droplet's path with his tongue, and received another moaned curse for his efforts.

The brunet soon lost himself to a haze of gasps and moans, his entire body wrapped in Niou's own. Several times he was concerned he legs would give out on him, the trickster's breathy words in his ear almost his undoing. But then Niou would say something else that would have had him standing at attention if he wasn't already painfully hard.

When the dancer finally hissed at him to "touch me already, for fuck's sake", Yagyuu didn't hesitate, slipping a hand between their bodies with a particular goal in mind, and Niou let out another delicious moan when his fingers closed around him. It wasn't long before the trickster's hands were clenching in his hair, and Yagyuu leaned forward to tug the lip out from beneath Niou's teeth, capturing it with his own instead and kissing him deeply as he finally came. The brunet wasn't far behind, the combination of Niou's spasming body and his fingers digging into his back enough to tip him over the edge as well.

And if he came with a moan of "Haru" rather than "Niou", the other male had no complaints.

\---

Yagyuu frowned as he picked up his t-shirt from a puddle of coffee, shooting a glance over his shoulder at Niou, who was sitting innocently on the kitchen counter.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault. You undressed me." The brunet couldn't deny that he was right, but the coffee had definitely been Niou's fault. He shrugged, using the t-shirt to clean up the rest of the spillage before throwing the whole thing in the bin. There was no point trying to wash that much coffee stainage out of a white t-shirt.

"Hey, Yagyuu?" Another glance at the other male showed that his eyebrows were wiggling enthusiastically. "Reckon that was enough of a confession?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "How typically crude of you. But yeah, it'll do."

Niou mock glared. "Dude. I'm sitting up here because I literally cannot stand up on my own. It better be good enough."

"Still, I'd like to ask you out properly."

The shorter male rolled his eyes. "How typically gentlemanly of you."

Yagyuu smirked, crossing the kitchen to stand in front of him, and was pleased to see the trickster swallow thickly. "You know, I'm really not that much of a gentleman anymore."

Before Niou could think of anything to say in response, Yagyuu pushed him down on the counter and divested him of his boxers. The brunet decided that the long, drawn-out moan of his name when he took the other male into his mouth was almost as good as any other form of agreement.

\---

"You really suck."

Niou glared down at him from where he was laying boneless on the sofa, and Yagyuu smirked, earning himself a smack on the head. "Not like that. Not right now. M'too tired." The brunet laughed, handing the trickster a slice of pizza, having known what he was talking about in the first place. Their dinner was just a little too far out of Niou's reach, but Yagyuu, sitting on the floor, had free reign over who got which piece, as well as what movie they were watching.

As he watched his former doubles partner roll around on the sofa in an attempt to find an angle that was comfortable to eat in, one of Yagyuu's shirts riding up and exposing delicious hip bones, he couldn't help himself.

"I love you."

Niou choked on his pizza, and Yagyuu couldn't help but laugh. He dodged the slice of pepper thrown his way, but didn't fail to notice the serious look on the other male's face.

"This isn't a new feeling, is it?" There was something unidentifiable in his voice, and Yagyuu shook his head in response.

"It's the answer I should have given you all those years ago."

The trickster scoffed, but wasn't able to hide the blush on his cheeks even though he turned away. Yagyuu smiled as he got up on his knees, shuffling over to the sofa and capturing Niou's lips in a kiss.

"Will you do me the honour of being my boyfriend, Masaharu?"

There was a brief pause as Niou smiled brightly. "How forward of you, Hiroshi." Yagyuu had barely enough time to return the smile with one of his own before his lips were occupied again.

"Hmm. I thought I'd follow a good friend of mine's example and make sure you know how I feel."

"Must be a clever guy, this friend of yours." Another kiss, this time more chaste.

"Mmm. Maybe. I must admit I spent more time looking at him than paying attention to what he said."

"Was he good-looking?"

"Oh, definitely. Possibly even better looking than you."

Niou was distracted from his fake anger by a kiss that left him momentarily breathless. "I should hit you for that, Yagyuu, but keep kissing me like that and we'll let it slide."

There were those elongated vowels again, and this time Yagyuu couldn't even pretend that they didn't make him happy. "Whatever you say, Niou-kun."

Hands were in his hair again, tugging at his clothes again, but neither of them seemed to want to stop. But then the trickster's fingers were on his lips, and he grinned with a mouth that was already slightly swollen.

"Yes, by the way. Before you distract me too much. Yes."

Yagyuu grinned, kissing him again and squeezing his hand, even as Niou tugged him up onto the sofa, pizza and movie completely forgotten..


End file.
